River Angel

Many citizens of Ambient, Wisconsin, believe the old tales of an angel living in the Onion River that runs through the heart of their town. So when Gabriel Carpenter vanishes one night at the river's edge after being accosted by troublesome teenagers, he is presumed drowned. Yet the teenagers all tell a different and conflicting story, and when Gabriels lifeless body is found in a barn a mile away no one in this quiet Midwestern community can agree whether a miracle or a hoax has occurred. But as the story spreads, and curious tourists overrun the town - some skeptical, others reverent, still others angling for financial gain - one fact becomes certain beyond any doubt: life here will never be the same.

MANETTE ANSAY has been awarded the Nelson Algren Prize, the AWP Short Fiction Prize, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Other honours include a 1995 Friends of American Writers Prize and the 1997 Great Lakes Book Award. She teaches at the MFA programme at Warren Wilson, and lives in Nashville with her husband. She is the author of the multi-million-copy bestseller Vinegar Hill, which became an Oprah's Book Club pick, and the highly acclaimed Sister, published by A&B.