Told in two intertwined timelines, this is the story of forgotten and mistreated children. Children who ended up having to fend for themselves and suffering at the hands of those who should have protected them. Enjoyable yet eye opening story.

A wonderful exploration into historians locale I was not at all familiar with prior to reading this book. I was eager to connect the past to the present in the two narratives, to find the connections and complete the circle. Wingate had a gift for telling stories and this book delivers on engaging the reader and inviting them to care about a topic they might not otherwise care about. The ending seemed rather abrupt... I would have liked two more chapters to wrap up the story but otherwise, well done.

I loved Before We Were Yours so I was so excited to pick up Shelterwood. This book was well researched and I really felt like I was there. It was a little slow but I ended up enjoying it. I love books that make me google for more information. Thanks for the chance to read early.

Intriguing story., rich descriptions, you can imagine yourself in the woods. Fiction with history mixed in.

The kids from Lisa Wingate’s upcoming novel Shelterwood could (probably should) break our hearts. Set in Oklahoma, Wingate maintains two timelines. In 1909 Olive and Nessa are on the run from the man who has drugged their mother and molested their sister. Olive will demand a different life moving forward - if she can just get back to her childhood home in the mountains. The struggle to stay ahead of the evil ones, to earn money, to eat - banding with other lost kids and trying to survive is suspensefully portrayed. In 1990, park ranger Valerie Borden-Odell is assigned to the same Oklahoma wilderness. She is contending with a devastating burial site with three sets of bones, a missing teenage boy and his missing grandmother, and a mystery in the woods that is endangering her officers. The presence of Kate Barnard, Oklahoma’s first elected female official - Oklahoma Commissioner of Charities and Corrections - looms large in life in 1909 and in spirit in 1990. She worked for the children - pushing for child labor laws and for the property rights of native children and more. I have been reading of the lives of historical women lately who have often been overlooked. This book fits right in.
Wingate expertly weaves these two stories together using alternating chapters throughout the novel. Each chapter leaves us with a question to take to the next - so well done. The whole time I read, I was trying to make the right connections. The parallel elements are simultaneously delightful and devastating. In each timeline older women are working against very difficult odds to protect younger kids. The title Shelterwood echoes this motif in such a lovely way as they are described as older, taller trees who protect younger ones. Again and again the idea of the older generations working to protect the younger ones - and most often women - surface. Valerie thanks her mother and grandmothers for their influence in one beautiful passage. One of the main characters from 1909 who is an elderly woman in 1990 speaks of the dreams of children and how those dreams thrived in the shadows of the trees and were fulfilled in spite of all of the opposition. The timelines are united, and the throughline here is just so beautiful.
As so often happens these days, I am left wondering if I am doing enough in the world - to leave it better than I found it. Wingate raises so many issues - the treatment of indigenous people in our country, the treatment of orphans in general, the treatment of women, the flaws in the foster system, the need to preserve nature, trees, our environment from greed without being didactic. While we see improvements from 1909 to 1990, we can also see how much work is left to be done. Most will agree that much work remains in 2024. I have more time than many to figure out how to contribute to that work. I also like the starting over motifs. Olive is starting over again - a child responsible for other children. Again and again she is betrayed by adults in her world, but she forges ahead because she must. Valerie is starting over - really for the second time in her new job and as a single parent - who wants her son to grow up with the freedom to be exactly who he is. Time and again she could make choices to make her life easier. She doesn’t do so. She chooses the freedom to be herself. These women are strong. I have worked to be one; as time marches forward, and I’m starting over a bit, may I continue to do so.

Shelterwood is not one I’m necessarily eager for my friends to read upon its release, but it was a solid read and I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for proving the advanced reader copy. I love national parks and history, so there was plenty to enjoy. While I love dual timelines, I sometimes felt we stayed too long in either 1909 or 1990 and I became a bit bored. I was also somewhat disappointed in how the two timelines intersected in the end.

Love dual time lines? Shelterwood will be right up your alley. Featuring 1909 and 1990, this is the story of the Choctaw Indian tribe then and now. Wingate delves into the past of the Choctaw Indians and the children taken from them and boarded with white families. Wingate mixes history and mystery into this moving tale which leaves you turning pages deep into the night .

Shelterwood, by Lisa Wingate, will be released on June 4. This story is set in two-time periods, with the alternating stories of Valerie and Olive. In the early 1900’s, Olive is a neglected child who leaves her home and befriends other children with difficult lives. Living in the woods near the Winding Stair Mountain, these children learn to survive in the wild and deal with outlaws and untrustworthy men. Valerie’s story is set in 1990. Her arrival at a national park as a law enforcement ranger is fraught with difficulty. A missing teenager and a hidden cave with bones of three children makes her first weeks on the job difficult and eye-opening to the injustices surrounding the land once inhabited by Native Americans. The two stories will intertwine and reveal a period of history that is sad and unknown to most Americans. This is the first book I have read by this author, so I can’t make any comparisons to her other novels. I did enjoy the subject matter, but at times the story was a bit slow for me. For me, this was a 3.5-star book. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC for an honest review.

This book is told from a dual point of view, one from 1909 and the other from 1990. In 1909 Olive Radley runs away from home alongside a younger Choctaw girl that’s staying at their home after concerns for their well-being. They meet other runaways along the way to form a tribe of sorts as they journey towards the Winding Stair Mountains. In 1990 a new state Ranger Valerie becomes tangled up in a controversy when handling a missing teenager case and finds the skeletons of three young girls.

I love how Lisa Wingate navigates such a hard part of history that I had no idea about. This story is written in a very engaging way and I was always looking for how the two POVs were going to meet up. My only wish is that there was more to the story once it did so, as it seemed somewhat abrupt and then the story was over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A story of orphans and their plight in 1909. A very educational read for me as I was not aware of this time in history! I however struggled to get through it as it was not an easy seamless read for me.

However, I did still give 4 stars because the story came together quite well at the end and the historical education was appreciated.

Lisa Wingate does it again with a wonderfully woven story of survival and family. Written in a dual time line with 11 year old Olive in 1909 in Oklahoma and National Park Ranger Valerie in 1990. Both scenarios are filled with descriptive nature of the Winding Stair Mountain area. Both stories are of survival and mystery. Keep reading to see how Olive and Valerie intersect decades apart. This historical fiction is filled with interesting characters and what it means to be family. Thank goodness for strong women looking out for homeless children. The reader gets caught up in how unscrupulous land barons exploit Native American Choctaw Indian children. This is an exciting read and one that will stay with the reader for a long time.

This story was compelling and kept my interest through all the twists and turns of the dual timeline. The stories paralleled each other, showing women's empowerment and the desire to right injustices, especially those perpetrated on the Choctaw Native Americans that populated the area. Wingate used actual historical events and characters, then populated her story with "elf-children" and diligent park rangers that made them come to life and made me care about their circumstances. I could not put it down.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Read Copy of Shelterwood.

The book is a well-woven story of children living very rough in the early 20th century, and the similar evils at the end of the century. It alternates between the two times and shows how they are tied together.

However, I read it with an undercurrent of anger. One of the main characters thinks that being a mom makes her compassionate to all children. It's an often heard idea, and is very insulting to childless people. Ironically, the book is full of bad parents, including the character with the mistaken ideas.

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate tells the story of Olivia Augusta Radley growing up in the early 1900’s in the forests of Winding Hill Staircase along with other children that were cheated out of their land.

In the present time is Valerie a park ranger that recently accepted the job and begins investigating the bones discovered.

An exciting mystery but very sad that children had to grow up this way. It is good this story was told.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my 2nd Lisa Wingate book and it absolutely did not disappoint. Lisa knows how to write about the hard ugly topics that occurred in history. Some that are hard to swallow and if you are like me, some of these "fictional stories"/real-life historical events may be new to you.

Right out the gate this book had me hooked. The dual time line had me invested in how Ollie Auggie of 1909 and Valerie Boren-Odell of 1990 were connected. Lisa does not shy away from detail that is needed for you to understand what the connection is. This is definitely a slow burn after the first few chapters, but after a bit you can't put it down.
Thank you Ballantine Books & NetGalley for my ebook of this amazing ARC.

The book alternates story lines in 1909 and 1990. In 1909, Ollie Augie Radley is a preteen girl living in rural Oklahoma with a lecherous stepfather, a mother who has become a victim of drugs and alcohol after pregnancy loss, and a 6 year old orphan Choctaw child, Nessa. In Oklahoma at that time, men would do almost anything for land, oil, mineral rights and money. The US government had taken land from American Indian tribes, put Indian children in schools to force them to leave behind their language and customs, and many iunscrupulous men blatantly stole children to gain their portion of land, and then abandoned them to die.
In 1990, Val Boren-O’dell, a National Park Ranger, and widowed single parent, and her young son Charlie, are assigned to the Winding Stair Mountain area of Oklahoma, where she is the only female employee. She arrives just as 3 long-dead skeletons are found in a cave nearby. She is determined to succeed as a professional, not the token female, despite the discrimination she experiences. She also plans to solve the mystery of who the skeletons were before the investigation is swept under the rug.
How the two stories 8 decades apart are woven together is the beauty of the novel. Lisa Wingate has always been a champion of children, those who are at risk due to status in life, or ethnicity, those who are trafficked for adoption, for work as servants or for sexual exploitation. It’s a shameful part of American history, and this book focuses on indigenous children who were robbed of their lifestyle and their monetary and cultural heritage.
The author is also a champion of equality of women, and this book also focuses on the knowledge, strength, persistence and fearlessness of both the female protagonists.
It was a time in American history I didn’t know a lot about, and I enjoyed reading about the customs and traditions of the Choctaw people. It was also interesting to read about the National Park Service.
The story line was fascinating, character development skillfully done. The transitions back and forth, and the way the two story lines blended was seamless and satisfying.
I loved everything about the book and I must say Lisa Wingate has authored another historical novel with great attention to detail and a sometimes sad, sometimes frightening, sometimes satisfying path to justice.
My review is entirely my own perspective and opinion after receiving an ARC of Shelterwood from NetGalley.

The story takes place in Oklahoma in two time frames 1909 and 1999. The earlier story tells of Olive Augusta Radley, an eleven year old, and her concern for two Choctaw children who are boarding in their home. Olive flees with the younger girl, Nessa, after the older girl disappears. They run to the outlaw ridden Winding Stair Mountains, and while along the way meet up with other exploited children and they form a band.

Lisa Wingate has been a favorite author of mine since “Before We Were Yours”, which lead me down a rabbit hole to check on the details of that story. I even read other books about the victims described in that book. This story was just the same. Wingate does detailed research on each subject she chooses to write about, and she always does these lost stories justice. In “Shelterwood”, she puts a spotlight on the corruption in Oklahoma regarding Native lands, Information that all Americans should read about. Native peoples and orphans at the turn of the 20th century. Ollie and Nessa are the main characters and their flight to escape a lecherous stepfather, but being on their own at 11 and 6 years old, respectively, puts them squarely in the path of other dangerous people. The timelines go back and forth between the girls in 1909 and a female park ranger’s investigation of three small sets of skeletons found recently in a cave in 1990. Who are the three children? And why are the higher-ups so against truly investigating what happened? This part of the story kept me reading until deep in the night one night because I just had to know.

These characters are undeniably deserving of compassion. Once again, Lisa Wingate brings buried history to life and ensures that these wrongdoings are never forgotten. Again a tale we all need to read. Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC.

Shelterwood is a heartbreaking yet hopeful novel ab0ut found family and the many ways you can find them.

If you like a story that happens in two timelines (1890 and 1990), has several plucky, determined children who are running from some really bad people set on doing them harm (both physically and financially), has some other determined people who are just as determined to help them and prevent further harm, all of which is told by a talented author who based her novel on some little known facts of Oklahoma history, this is the book for you.
The 1990 timeline has to do with a female park ranger and the connection she finds to the 1890
actions.
Lisa Wingate uses her plot to shine a light on the Oklahoma history that was never taught during her school years. It involves stolen Native American land and land rights, especially the effect on the minors and orphans. On this backdrop she showcases the determination and struggles of Kate Bernard, the commissioner of charities and corrections who was determined to put a stop to those practices.
I think Shelterwood is the quintessential definition of a good read: one that pulls you into the story, makes you care about the characters and highlights a part of history too.