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Donna

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Shelterwood

by Lisa Wingate (Goodreads Author)

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read in April 2024

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Donna said: " Another "hit it out of the ballpark" book for Lisa Wingate who is still one of my favorite authors. Her character development is done so well that I always end the book feeling like I know the people involved and am sad to say goodbye to them in the Another "hit it out of the ballpark" book for Lisa Wingate who is still one of my favorite authors. Her character development is done so well that I always end the book feeling like I know the people involved and am sad to say goodbye to them in the end.

In Shelterwood we meet two strong female characters who lived about 81 years apart. Olive Augusta Peele won my heart with her spunky, quick-witted and brave personality that helps her get through the rough decisions she has to make. From her first chapter in the book I could tell she would find a way to get to where she was going as she faced many challenges getting there.

In the early part of the 20th century, Choctaw orphan children were being adopted and abused as a means to take their inherited land and once it was procured the children were left to survive on their own in the wild. Two Choctaw children came to live in Olive's dysfunctional family consisting of a Mom who was over-medicating herself and a sinister step-father who was abusing the Choctaw children. When one of the children turns up missing Olive realizes that she has to get the younger child away from her stepfather. They begin a long journey towards the mountains that Olive's father took her to in her younger years. They meet other children along the way forming their own little family of misfits. Olive always manages to find a way to meet the challenges of her quest with her quick-thinking and industrious personality.

The contrasting story to Olive's is set in 1990 with another strong female park ranger named Valerie Boren-Odell who has moved to Oklahoma to start over with her son after the death of her husband. She meets many challenges, being the woman of the group of rangers. She has to work to prove her abilities from the get-go. She quickly falls upon a little mystery that starts with bones of three children found in a cave...a story that no one else wants to investigate. Valerie is determined to figure out the mystery behind the park and the many stories it holds. While investigating the bones she learns of the disappearance of a 17 year old boy in the park and she's determined to find out what happened to him. The story of Valerie weaves back and intertwines with Olive's story in the end. All the characters in the book were made real with the amazing writing skills of Lisa. I thoroughly loved the book and learned a little bit of history that I'd never heard of in Oklahoma's early years. It was very well researched and spun it's way into a beautiful ending.

Thanks to Random House for sending me an advanced reader copy of this book. I'm confident that it will quickly rise to be a top read this summer in the historical fiction genre. Another great book, Lisa Wingate. ...more "

Jun 03, 2024 01:03PM · see review