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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.
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.
What are you reading this week? (9/04/2025)
I very much enjoy Lisa Wingate's books and honestly don't know how I missed Shelterwood. I'm glad you mentioned it as what you are reading this week. :grinning_face: :green_heart:
-Sunny
What are you reading this week? (02/27/2025)
Just started reading Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate after listening to her online interview last night……she discussed both the book itself and the process of researching and writing it……I have read oth...
-Beth_P
What are you reading this week? (12-26-2024)
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate. The story moves back and forth from 1909 and 1990 with the earlier storyline about orphaned or abandoned children in southeast Oklahoma. When the bo...
-NanK
"A seamlessly crafted tale of tragedy, resilience, and triumph, this powerful novel needs to go to the top of your list. Lisa Wingate once again gives poignant voice to the 'lost' children of American history." —Lisa Scottoline, author of Eternal and Loyalty
"Shelterwood is an instant American classic and a diamond in the crown of Lisa Wingate's canon of atmospheric and emotional novels. The story of Ollie and Nessa is a page-turner." —Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone
"A complex and fascinating tapestry woven with threads of history, mystery, and menace that proves yet again that there is no finer storyteller at work today than Lisa Wingate." —William Kent Krueger, author of The River We Remember
This information about Shelterwood was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lisa Wingate is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Before We Were Yours, which remained on the bestseller list for fifty-four weeks in hardcover and has sold over 2 million copies. She has penned over thirty novels and coauthored a nonfiction book, Before and After with Judy Christie. Her award-winning works have been selected for state and community One Book reads throughout the country, have been published in over forty languages, and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide.
The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa and six others as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, "Lisa Wingate...
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