Shelterwood
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jun 4, 2024
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- $13.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.
“Wingate’s stellar latest (after Before We Were Yours) explores a centuries-long legacy of missing child cases. . . . Her portrayal of the region’s history, culture, and landscape enthralls. Wingate is at the top of her game.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the remote Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.
Oklahoma, 1990. Law enforcement ranger Valerie Boren-Odell arrives at newly minted Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children unearthed in a cave. Val’s quest for the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.
In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the rugged and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wingate's stellar latest (after Before We Were Yours) explores a centuries-long legacy of missing child cases in Oklahoma's Winding Stair mountains. In 1990, the long-buried remains of three young girls are discovered in the newly created Horsethief Trail National Park. When park ranger Valerie Boren-Odell, whose husband's death has left her to care for their seven-year-old son alone, learns her boss won't investigate how the girls died, she feels compelled to uncover their names and what happened to them. As the disappearance of a teenage boy and the discovery of an unidentified man's corpse complicate Valerie's investigation, Choctaw tribal police officer Curtis Enhoe offers insight and access to tribal records that help link the cases. In a parallel narrative set in 1909, 11-year-old Olive "Ollie" Radley's Choctaw foster sister Hazel disappears after being molested by Olive's stepfather. When he turns his attention to Hazel's younger sister, Nessa, Ollie decides they must flee. The pair evade pursuit by moving deeper into the forest, discovering to their surprise that other victimized children, most of them Choctaw, are also hiding there. Wingate's insightful depiction of her young characters' vulnerability and resourcefulness enriches the intricate plotting, and her portrayal of the region's history, culture, and landscape enthralls. Wingate is at the top of her game.
