BTSCELEBS

Tyndale: What inspired you to write a story set on NW Washington’s Elwha River? 

Cheryl Grey Bostrom: For five generations, my Port Angeles family lived within a ten-mile radius of the  Elwha Valley, and my grandparents roamed its pristine ecosystem with me in tow. Having loved the Elwha since childhood and eager to plant my imagination there for the course of a story, I was delighted when protagonist Hildy came to  mind. Trapped by, then freed from a generational stronghold of deception, the  young biologist’s inner history parallels the dammed-up river’s. In every way, the setting was an elegant fit.