Ouray's Peak

Ouray's Peak
220 Pages
ISBN 1105605086

An idyllic childhood in New England filled with fishing on the sea with their father Mickey, and dancing to 50’s tunes with her brother, Jamie, is suddenly ruptured for Kristin when her grandmother Christiana dies. Soon after, without word or warning, her beloved mother Christine vanishes. However, a vital clue, is left behind: the w’ni thokunup, a Ute musical instrument that was passed down from Christiana.

Mickey Tabor slides into alcoholism and violence, and Kristin finds herself caught in a clash of wills with the father she once adored. Continually shocked at the web of lies he weaves, she is even more astonished at Jamie’s willingness to take his side. Under the mounting tension, Kristin’s relationship with Jamie shatters. After one particularly brutal incident of violence perpetrated against her, Kristin leaves the family for good.

Kristin’s journey takes her cross country and deep within the Rocky Mountains, leading her to discover not only her Ute Indian roots, but a way back to the brother she left behind, and eventually, the heart she thought had been closed forever.

Leigh Podgorski

About Leigh Podgorski (Los Angeles, California Author)

Leigh Podgorski

Leigh Podgorski is an award winning playwright and screenwriter. Among her favorite projects are a play and documentary on Cahuilla elder Katherine Siva Saubel entitled We Are Still Here and the one-act play Windstorm for which she interviewed Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross. Leigh’s novels include The Women Debrowska that is loosely based on her own Polish ancestry, Ouray’s Peak which follows the story of one matriarchal Ute Indian lineage, and the metaphysical mystery series Stone Quest that includes Desert Chimera, Gallows Ascending, and Neuri Shape-Shifter. Several of her theatrical monologues have been published by Meriwether Publishing, Gerald Lee Ratliff, editor.

Her newest novel is Western Song published by Solstice Publishing. Western Song is a timeless love story filled with rich unique characters played out beneath the wide Wyoming sky about a bull riding rancher and his recently deceased best buddy’s Thai immigrant mail order bride; as she learns the true power of freedom, he discovers he’s lost his heart. In addition, Solstice has also published Leigh’s short story The Season of the Neuri Knight, a short story that will be released as a standalone and is currently available in the Anthology Realms of Fantastic Stories Vol2; and the novella My Soul to Take, which will be released on October 31st in the Anthology Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Vol 6 and also as a standalone.