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Author, Journalist, Poet, Freelance Writer
Frances Pettey Davis is the author of the historical fiction novel Red Summer. The story paints a vivid picture of small town life and the toll the McCarthy era exacted on a community's civility and cohesion. Born in Merced, California, Fran has lived in San Jose, Chicago, New York Ciity, and Santa Barbara, but still thinks of herself as a small town girl. She holds degrees from San Jose State University and Columbia University and has worked as an editor, a newspaper columnist, a teacher, a publicist for a non-profit, and a freelance writer. Currently a resident of Goleta, California, she is a long-time columnist for Coastal View News. She has been a feature writer for the Santa Barbara New-Press and the Santa Barbara Independent. Her stories, essays and poems are published in magazines and print and online journals. Her literary work has been featured in The Hopper, Calyx, The Chattahoochee Review, The Vincent Brothers Review, Reed Magazine, Passager, Quercus Review, Re(Verb), Askew, Memoir, the English journal Popshot Magazine, the anthologies While You Wait, Burning Bright, A Bird Black as the Sun, Buzz, Rare Feathers, SALT, Women in a Golden State, and several others. Her travel essays are published in Italy, A Love Story and Mexico, A Love Story published by Seal Press. She has served as a manuscript consultant at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and is a winner of the Lamar York prize for nonfiction and a Pushcart prize nominee.
Fran's novel, Red Summer, is available at Amazon and bookstores.
Reviews
Reviews
Excellent literary novel for people who appreciate great characters, nuanced moral dilemma
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Wow! This is a summer read for people who appreciate great writing. Beautiful and evocative writing, vivid characters, and historically accurate, nuanced storytelling set in the rural agricultural California central valley in the 1950s. Strong recommend.Strongly Recommend
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
I began reading this book on a plane flight, and couldn’t put it down when we landed. I fell in love with the complex, nuanced characters. The story kept me turning pages to the very end. This well researched novel of historical fiction is not only beautifully written, but a timely message from the McCarthy era to our present day political situation.An intimate gem about small town civility gradually corroded by fear
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Red summer is a gem about how the red scare and mccarthyism corrode the civility of small town life in California during the 50s. With finely drawn characters, attention to detail chronicling multigenerational relationships, and intricate descriptions of small stores and farms, the author paints a vivid picture of the economic fabric of the town and the many layered bonds holding the town's inhabitants together. As fear descends on the town, divisions take hold, and the weaves that hold the town together begin to fray. Grievances are no longer forgiven, and the social, economic, and government power imbalances in the the town are increasingly put to work to exploit the weak. Ultimately, the cost of losing the civility and care for one another is borne by everyone in the town, even those most powerful.
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Red Summer is an excellent book club pick that will generate much discussion. Davis is a talented writer with a gift for creating multifaceted characters that come alive on the page. You will not soon forget the small town of Bear River, its inhabitants desires and conflicts complicated by post WWII suspicion and fear.
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2025
The 50's McCarthy period is the backdrop of this novel, but so is the difficulty of life in rural California. This book celebrates both youth and aging, while not shying away from facing hard truths of family and community conflict. The characters are rich. I was particularly struck by the intimacy of the language. Women's sexuality is explored in a way that is not pornographic, nor romance novely, but Davis captures a depth of feeling that I don't think I've ever seen in an another book. Her portrayal of children is memorable and cinematic, and Althea's fascinating special sense reminds us that magic, light, and life come together in both tender and tragic ways. It's a great read.
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