“Ramona Gault has written a multi-layered novel that touches on several themes:
Relocating to a small Spanish village in Northern New Mexico from the city of Albuquerque with her tween daughter where the two of them bond through a series of adventures.
Adjusting to life in a culture much different from their own and forming relationships with a disparate cast of local characters. Ramona Gault has captured the essence of village life and her role as a single mother within the community. Her book will be hard to put down once you enter that world.” -- D. Plantz

What’s The Dry Line about?

"Are we outlaws, Mom?" Anna Darby doesn't answer. She's not big on self-reflection, but she would do anything for her beloved daughter, Paris, except tell her about her soldier father, who was killed in Vietnam. Anna is running as fast as she can, trying to survive on her social worker paycheck in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1987. But when Paris gets into a scrape with the law, and an old friend asks for a big favor, Anna acts impetuously. As a result, she meets Cisco, a combat veteran who paints ghosts by day and rides the back roads on his Harley by night. Will he be the love of her life, or the death of her? And can feisty Paris save Tonio, a strange, neglected boy who lives in a cave? The barely suppressed sorrows of the past erupt in a remote desert village, and Anna and Cisco must figure out whether, and how, they can heal.

Author note: The Vietnam War ruptured many small towns throughout America, among them the rural villages of New Mexico. This story comes from my heart and goes to the Vietnam vets and war protestors alike who were broken by that war and somehow managed to find a way forward. It is also for those who perished. You live in our hearts, dear ones! 

"Seriously, "The Dry Line" a novel by Ramona Gault is one of my favorite books. The mother's story of raising a teenage daughter on her own is heartfelt and understandably conflicted. Each chapter reveals the mother / daughter relationship as they find themselves in a new place with new people in their lives. We are invited into the viewpoint of four primary characters. Each character is extremely well crafted. The landscape is so well described as to actually be a character with its own depth and drama. There is electricity in the air. "The Dry Line" is a roller coaster of emotions and situations. Even the black dog that keeps showing up has a part to play. I desperately wanted the story to end on a positive note for these characters I came to know and love. Well done, Mrs. Gault."

- Anna C. Colpitts

“The Dry Line weaves unexpected magic into the everyday world of a small New Mexico village, establishing a straightforward, taut love story sustained with a story-telling expertise that kept me absorbed. It made me think of The Milagro Beanfield War and Coming Home, delivering impassioned, authentic characters caught in rebellion--against the past, against events beyond their control, against each other--manifested in "the dry line," the mysterious line that moves across the plains, defining the battle between rain and drought. Its heart lies in the inevitable change that people honestly engaging in life find their way to. I enjoyed this book very much.”

- Jane Peranteau

“I love this book. The characters are heartfelt and real, easy to care about. I found myself deeply caring about the intensity of their everyday struggles as the storyline pulled me along in suspense, and I relished in the unexpected plot turns. It reminded me that each of our lives holds its own greater-than-fiction scenario in a unique expression, whether seen or not seen by the outside world. As someone who has never spent more than a week in the Southwest, I was mesmerized by detailed descriptions of the landscape, the winds and the ever-shifting sky as they colored the emotional backdrop of the story.”

-Tasara

laughing coyote video by rachelemilysimpson.com