GRAND AMBITION

A perilous 1928 expedition provides the historical inspiration for this solid, low-key novel by Michaels, a poet and memoirist. More than 70 years ago, spurred on by Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic, newlyweds Glen and Bessie Hyde went rafting down the Colorado River. If they made it, Bessie would be the first woman to run the dangerous rapids, but the expedition ended in disaster: the Hydes disappeared before they reached Needles, Calif., the endpoint of their journey. Michaels divides the story between an account of the young couple's tragic adventure and the tale of Glen's father, Reith, who mounted an unsuccessful search party to find them. Glen Hyde is an uncommon man—thoroughly open-minded, but also ignorant of normal fears and sometimes maddeningly literal. Bessie Hyde, née Haley, has had a more varied experience than her husband, and her history is revealed in flashbacks. Married before, she fled her first husband to go to art school in San Francisco. When she meets Glen, she is impressed by his "most unusual composure." Rafting through spectacularly dangerous rapids, she begins to feel that Glen's composure might well be simple recklessness, but she is seized by a need to keep up with the husband she loves. The sepia-toned tale runs straight and true along the course of the Colorado, Michaels's well-integrated research and descriptions of the rushing water and rocky cliffs giving it a simple, convincing period tone. Though the rapids may come to seem monotonous, the love story at the heart of this honest historical adventure tale rings true. (June)

Forecast: The only connection between this book and Michaels's well-received memoir, Split, about growing up a child of the counterculture, is the author's clean, well-crafted prose. Fans of the latter may be puzzled, and chances are this quiet first novel won't attract the attention of the earlier memoir.