Dancing on the Brink of the World

“The depth of historical research on display is admirable, and the novel will have great appeal to anyone with an interest in this part of American colonial history.”—BlueInk Review

“In the vivid historical novel Dancing on the Brink of the World, a man comes into his own in a place teeming with frontier potential and multicultural influences.”—Foreword Clarion Reviews

“Rafter’s historical novel takes us to a fully realized world—one that feels just as socially complex and political as my California. Reading Dancing on the Brink of the World makes me feel my own life and times as a river flowing into the unknown. That perspective is what historical fiction gives you at its best, and that’s what Rafter provides.”—Tamim Ansary, author of Destiny Disrupted, The Invention of Yesterday, and West of Kabul, East of New York

“Marianne Rafter has brought the charismatic settler William Richardson to life in her novel Dancing on the Brink of the World. History buffs will be intrigued to follow Richardson’s dealings with legendary characters such as Mariano Vallejo, John Sutter, John Fremont, Kit Carson, and more. It’s tough to tell when history leaves off and Rafter’s imagination takes over—it all has a convincing ring of authenticity.”—Larry Clinton, past president of the Sausalito Historical Society

Marianne T. Rafter is captivated by historical fiction. When she lived in California, she worked on history and literature programs for a publishing company. Intrigued by California’s pre-statehood era, she discovered the land she lived on had been part of a huge Mexican rancho in the 1800s, and before that the homeland of Miwoks, the original inhabitants. She wove her research about the era of Spanish missions, sailing ships, and ranchos into her debut novel. Rafter currently resides in Freeland, Washington.

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