What if keeping a promise meant losing yourself?

Dessa Sinich is shaped by loss and bound by a vow to her late twin: to help raise his son alongside his widow. For years, she's lived inside that promise—one she never truly chose. But to break free, she must cross not only physical borders, from the forests of the Pacific Northwest to the hidden villages of Bulgaria, but also emotional ones: between duty and freedom, closeness and autonomy, memory and selfhood.

Dessa's Crossing is a literary exploration of inner landscapes and quiet rebellion, told through a novel and seven linked short stories that expand the world around Dessa and those bound to her.

Inspired by the author's daughter, a volunteer mountain rescuer in Washington State.

“Radenski’s prose is lyrical yet precise… a quiet urgency that lingers long after the final page.” — Goodreads reviewer

“After the account of rescue missions at the beginning of the book, the reader is drawn into a magnificent human adventure that keeps them in suspense all the way to the heart of the Balkans. Very well written, easy to read, original in more than one way, and full of humor, this book offers an excellent time in the company of Dessa.” — Amazon France reviewer