The complete Brennen Siding Trilogy is now available in a single volume. Brennen Siding, a hamlet on a small tributary of the famous Miramichi River, is home to an unforgettable crew — Dryfly and Palidin Ramsey and Dry's friend Shadrack Nash; Shirley Ramsey, Dry and Pal's homely, destitute mother, and Nutbeam, the floppy-eared hermit she marries; the American sports who come to the Cabbage Island Salmon Club to fish; and the "lads" who guide them.

Dry, Shad and Pal, young teenagers in The Americans Are Coming, make some headway into maturity in The Last Tasmanian. By the end of The Lone Angler, when Palidin realizes what will happen to his beloved Atlantic salmon if he sells his secret of catching a fish on every cast, all three have launched themselves into adulthood. The boys' adventures gently lead the reader to reflect on the nature of humans and the place of humans in nature. Running through it all is the magical, mysterious river and the legendary Atlantic salmon.

The Last Tasmanian won the 1992 Thomas Raddall Award and was a finalist for a Commonwealth Book Prize. The Americans Are Coming is a successful stage play.

Herb Curtis (b. 1949) has lived all his life in New Brunswick; he moves between Fredericton and the Miramichi, where he guides visiting salmon fishermen. His masterpiece, The Brennan Siding Trilogy (Goose Lane, 1997), is a compilation of his first three novels, The Americans Are Coming (1989, 1999), The Last Tasmanian (1991, 2001) and The Lone Angler (1993). A different version of "The Party" appears in The Last Tasmanian.

Herb Curtis' profile page