The Pattersons is the story of a rich and powerful family's path to redemptiona path hewn from the bedrock of American history, and one with the power to revitalize an American Dream that, for many, seems hopelessly out of reach.Ellen Fletcher left an environmental law practice to marry Marshall Patterson, heir to an oil-and-gas exploration company rooted in the energy and optimism of the frontier. Much to the consternation of his family, Marshall's academic interests seem certain to put him in the classroom rather than the boardroom. But at the height of his youthful ambitions, Marshall suffers an accident that causes him to abandon his dreams and accept his fate as a reluctant executive. Over the years, privilege takes its toll not only on Marshall, but also on his wife and children who come to understand the terrible cost of unfulfilled ambition.The story unfolds in Birchwood Bay, Wisconsin where the Pattersons maintain a summer home. In ways that are both exhilarating and frightening, the Pattersons are drawn into a vortex destined to transform their lives and rescue their community from predatory corporations. Guidance comes in the form of Gus Grey Feather, a Native American elder who carries the wisdom of his people into the twenty-first century.

Their story is one of renewal for the Patterson family, their community, and a culture poised at the fraying edge of the American Dream.