The Way of Florida: A Novel

Relentless, urgent and above all musical, Russell Persson’s expertly crafted The Way of Florida recasts the tragic story of the failed Narváez expedition.

This tale has trickled down through the centuries via La Relación, the official report published in 1542, as well as many other subsequent retellings. A calamitous attempt to establish Spanish colonies along the Gulf Coast, of the 300 crew sent inland to explore, only four survived this eight-year ordeal. In bracing, beautiful language this timely narrative of botched colonialism, now in its first American Edition, radically reimagines the parameters and responsibilities of the historical novel. Linguistically rich, sinuous, and maybe even heroic, The Way of Florida offers historical fiction like you have never read it before.

Russell Persson is a writer living in Reno, Nevada. The first American edition of his first novel, The Way of Florida, first published by Little Island Press in 2018, is forthcoming from Baobab Press in 2025. His second book, These Threads Who Lead to Bramble, will be published by Dzanc Books in 2025. His work has appeared in Unsaid Magazine, The Quarterly, 3AM Magazine, NY Tyrant, Hotel Magazine, Territory, and other literary journals.