Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate – 368 pages
ARC from Penguin Random House, Ballantine and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4 stars
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate was a fascinating and courageous story about two young girl’s survival and resilience in the woods of Oklahoma.
Wingate is a natural born storyteller. When she creates stories based on real life people, whose stories would otherwise be unknown, her writing just comes alive. If you’ve read Before We Were Yours (2017), you’ll know exactly what I mean.
This is told in two different timelines, eighty-one years apart. One features Ollie and Nessa, eleven and six years old, escaping the wrath of Ollie’s stepdad. Nessa is from the tribal Choctaw community and is boarding there. Their escape is brave, smart, and harrowing. The more current timeline features an amazing, widowed character who is trying to get her life back on track. She was cunning and determined even while putting herself and her son at potential risk.
Both the setting in the past, as well as the more current storyline, are equally satisfying. The current one gave a police procedural feel which I enjoyed because I don’t read many of those. I do wish some of the historical elements shared in the author’s note were incorporated into the past story line. I think it would’ve given the reader more depth into the Choctaw life and the stealing of their land.
Overall, the book was another deep dive into a part of history I knew little about. Well done!
Quotes I liked:
A town without a library in no town at all.”
“Hate is a thief that will steal everything and return nothing if you let it.”
“Stories turn into memories. You just have to tell them enough.”
“The people you’re close to aren’t guaranteed. They can be gone in an instant.”
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