Brennen Siding, a hamlet near 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; Nutbeam, the floppy-eared hermit she marries; the American sports visiting the Cabbage Island Salmon Club; 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, Palidin realizes what will happen to his beloved Atlantic salmon if he sells his secret of catching a fish on every cast, and all three boys have launched themselves into adulthood. Running through the trilogy are the magical river, the legendary salmon, and the feelings they evoke about the nature of humans and the place of humans in nature.