Shelterwood
By: Lisa Wingate
Publisher: Ballantine Books

This was my first Lisa Wingate novel and it will not be my last! Absolutely adored this comprehensive dual timeline, both taking place in Oklahoma in the Winding Stair Mountains. First, we find ourselves in 1909 following the hard and heartbreaking life of 9 year Olive Radley and 6 year old Choctaw, Nessa. The other timeline set in the same place, but in the year 1990, introduces us to law enforcement rangers, Valerie who deals with trying to find a missing teen. I found both timelines interesting and especially favored the earlier timeline. I love when I learn something new from reading and I definitely did with this one. Fans of historical fiction will surely love Shelterwood.

Many thanks to Lisa Wingate, Ballantine Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. I read and reviewed this voluntarily and opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own. This book is currently available for purchase on June 4th, 2024.

My opinion on this book will probably not be popular, but this story was a miss for me. The two storylines just didn’t flow well. It seemed the stories dragged out unnecessarily. It was an interesting story, but I found it didn’t hold my attention.

I thoroughly enjoyed both of Wingate's previous novels (Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends), so when I saw she had a new book coming out, I jumped at the chance to read it. I was not disappointed. As she has done before, Wingate artfully instructs her readers about historical events and figures unknown to many of us, writing compellingly about marginalized people groups and those who fought to right the wrongs committed against them. Her story is set in her home state of Oklahoma and follows Val, a park ranger and single mom in 1990 as she investigates a series of troubling events, and Ollie, an eleven-year-old girl in 1909 struggling to escape her stepfather’s clutches as she fights to save other children in similar situations.
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Highly recommended!

📖Book Review 📖
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

I was so excited to received a gifted copy of both audio and e-book from @prhaudio and Ballantine Books via Netgalley because I love Lisa Wingate!

Shelterwood is a dual POV story of Valerie Boren-O’dell and 11-year old Olivia Augusta Radley. This book is a tribute to the untold story of women pioneers who fought to protect children who were caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth in the early 1900s in the state of Oklahoma.
Lisa Wingate has done it again! A profound novel that is so carefully curated with deep history research, variety of characters that are both lovable and hate-able and a one of a kind women empowering story that is so captivating and moving and the type where readers will dig more long after the last page has been read. Since this was inspired by real events, it was written in a way it was delicately presented despite the grime of this unbelievable truth.
The audiobook was pleasing to listen to. Narrators Christine Lakin, Jenna Lamia and Dan Bittner were phenomenal sounding!
Shelterwood is coming out in June 4th and I highly recommend!
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Shelterwood intertwines two story lines nearly a century apart. The stories, in my opinion, unfold a little slowly. Several times, I put the book down, but I always came back to it later.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and the author for an advanced copy of Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate. The book is written from two points of view - Eleven year old Olive in 1909 and Law Enforcement Ranger Val in 1990. Typically I do ok with these types of back and forth perspective books, but this one took me a long time to connect with any of the characters. It seemed to jump too quickly to the other story. I did love the historical information located within the story. The last 20% of the book was when I finally started to connect to the story and the characters and once I knew what happened to the “three girls in the cave” I saw the book in a different light and am tempted to read it again. I enjoyed it enough, but it didn’t capture me fast enough to love it.

My first time reading this author, as a candidate for one of our library book clubs.

Solid historical fiction, obviously well-researched, and not a topic that I knew much about, so appreciated learning something.

The dual timelines unspooled the mystery slowly.....a bit too slowly in some spots. And sometimes the internal dialogues and conversations of the main characters were a bit of an info-dump.

Still, it was an enjoyable read, and I would read something else by her in future.

Lisa Wingate has done it again! After her best-selling book"Before We Were Yours," comes another fascinating story of greed, corruption, and the children who were the victims. This time, the setting is Oklahoma, where children are being exploited for their land and mineral rights. This is another sad chapter in American history that is now being revealed.

It's 1909, and eleven-year-old Ollie Radley and two Choctaw girls, Hazel and Nessa, orphan wards of her parents, are at the mercy of their pedophile stepfather. When Hazel disappears, Ollie, fearing for their safety, flees with six-year-old Nessa into the wilds of the Oklahoma mountains and the safety she seeks at an old homestead.

In 1990, park law enforcement ranger Valerie Boren-Odell was appointed to the newly created Horsethief Trail National Park. She was met with a missing person, a mysterious death, an old burial site, and local resistance to the freshly minted park. Still grieving over her husband's death and adjusting to being a single parent, Val must prove herself to her fellow rangers and the local community. Her only allies are the twelve-year-old sister of the missing person, who has a history of "telling tall tales," and a fellow law enforcement officer from the Choctaw Tribal Police. Facing adversity at every turn, they unite to try and find answers.

This story is rich in historical information about the early days of the Oklahoma land grab and the injustices done to the native tribes. This topic was also explored in "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders," but Wingate's fictional characters can show how the exploitation occurred on a large scale and zeroed in on the plight of the children. Using the two timelines and two strong females, Wingate adeptly weaves a historical fiction and a mystery novel that both informs and entertains. The story is told with empathy and hard facts that tugged at my heart and kept me wanting to know more. I highly recommend this book. 5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is June 4, 2024.

I’ve liked everything I’ve read by this author. This book is no different. I learned so much about Oklahoma history, the National Park Service and the wonderful work that the Park Rangers do. Books such as this one are important to remind us of our country’s history. America is a country of great opportunity, but we must not forget that in many cases the prosperity gained by individuals was done via the unjust treatment of others.

Ollie, Nessa and Hazel’s story speaks to the resilience of children. Against all odds, they succeeded in rising above the hand they had been dealt.

This had a great touching story. Big fan of this author.

Thank you to net galley for a copy to read and review

The early 1900s was a time when Choctaw Indians were being cheated out of their land rights in Oklahoma. Young Choctaw orphans were assigned guardians by the courts, but the guardians were wealthy white men who only sought to exploit the riches of the lands that the children owned.
In this book, Wingate uses a dual timeline to profile young children in 1909 and a national park ranger in 1990, and the story is most intriguing when the two narratives coalesce.
In some ways, this reminded me of Killers of the Flower Moon, except that book profiled adult
Native Americans who were being murdered and swindled.

This is another great book by the Author.

The story takes place in Oklahoma, and goes between two time-lines. 1909 and 1990
In the 1909 part of the story, we follow eleven year old Olive Augusta Radley (Ollie) and six year old Nessa , as they run away from Ollie's home, after Nessa's older sister disappears, and also from Ollie's abusive stepfather. The girls head toward the mountains looking for Ollie's parents' old cabin, and on the way the meet other young people who are also trying to make it on their own.
Nessa and her sister were a ward of Ollie's family, after losing their family and were from a Choctaw tribe.
This story has quite a sad story, about Indian Children and orphans, and we learn a lot about the history of the area, and what happened to these children and why it was happening.
In 1990 the stories main character is Valerie Boren-O’Dell, who is a single mom with a young son seeking a quiet place after losing her husband. She is the new female park ranger at Horse thief Trail National Park.
Valerie has a bit of a hard time being accepted in the beginning, and she feels that there is not a lot being said about a lot of things that have been happening in the park, a lost hiker, bones of three young girls found in a cave, and noises heard in areas where no one should be. So between the two related time frames, the author has given us a very interesting story.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group -Ballantine for a copy of this book.

Told in dual timelines, one from 1909 and one from 1990, Shelterwood is historical fiction about the land, the woodland, and the rights of the Choctaw, especially the Choctaw children, over their land. Taking place in Oklahoma, it tells of a little known time in history when the Choctaw natives and their children were being killed in order to acquire the wealth of their land. Similar to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders, Shelterwood delves into the casual disregard of the rights of the Choctaw to their land. A compelling story that is well-researched (as spelled out in the Author's Note at the end of the novel.) Lisa Wingate knows how to tell a story that captures and holds your attention throughout.

I received a copy for review purposes; all opinions are honest and mine alone.

Based on real events, SHELTERWOOD, by Lisa Wingate, is a standalone, dual timeline, historical fiction novel that’s a bit of a reading challenge due to pacing issues. This is a complex story that would have been better told in a single, contemporary time period with the use of flashbacks, letters or some other literary device to fill in the historical information.

It took me over a week to read this story because I was frustrated by the short chapters and whipsawing between storylines. If I hadn’t agreed to write a review, this might have become a DNF candidate, which would have been unfortunate because the story is important. I did find an odd solution; one that I’ve never done before over oh SO many reads - I stopped reading the chapters consecutively, (this was at day 6 and the end of my reading rope), and read them by timeline! SO. MUCH. BETTER. Thankfully, the pace moved much more smoothly and I really appreciated the story.

By now, there are over 300 reviews on this title so I won’t replay details of the story. Wingate does a good job of shedding light on an aspect of history that’s all but ignored and continues to be. Kudos to her for not running the political train thru her prose. The young female characters in the 1909 timeline were fair representations of budding Suffragettes and the female ranger in the 1990 timeline was spot on for a woman breaking into a traditionally male dominated career. Many of her scenes reminded me of my own experiences bursting the testosterone ceiling. It would be easy to see Netflix optioning this book.

If you’re a fan of overlapping plots, memorable characters, historical fiction, mystery and not bothered by a languishing pace, SHELTERWOOD is a well written story that deserves to be read and remembered 📚

Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks

Two stories in Oklahoma, one in 1990 and one in 1909 about children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. I wasn’t quite sure how the two time periods would interact, but finally at about 80%, they started hinting toward each other. This ended well, but took quite awhile to get there.

This well researched novel takes us to Oklahoma in two timelines, following a group of children that society has failed as they struggle to survive and a park ranger as she navigates some mysteries in the newly developed park she works at.

The historical timeline was told from the perspective of one of the children, Ollie. I usually will always favor the historical timeline, but that was not the case in this story. I struggle to read from the perspective of children, but I will say this is one of the better ones I’ve read. The children include Ollie, her step-father’s ward, sibling Choctaw orphans, and some other misfits and runaways. Their bond and resiliency was special, and this was really showcased when we reach the end.

I really enjoyed the more current timeline and was interested in the mysteries and relationships we learn about. I learned a lot of Oklahoma history, includes the Dawes Act, the presence of “elf children” and the criminal way Native Americans were cheated and had their land parcels stolen through fake marriages and “guardianship” of children.

This was my first title by the author, but I am very interested in her other titles and what I could learn from those as well.

You can never go wrong with a Lisa Wingate book. She knows how to take a story and pull you all the way into it. I suggest going into the book blind and just take in the story. I can’t wait for her next book.

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate

Lisa Wingate connects two timelines taking place in the Winding Stair Mountains of Oklahoma. In 1909, eleven year old Olive knows she must get herself and her little attic mate, six year old Nessa, away from her stepfather now that Nessa's older sister has disappeared following abuse from the stepfather. Reading about the travails of Olive and Nessa was grueling and I was wishing that this part of the story could be told in some other way. But as the story went on, I just faced the facts that people young and old were being killed for their land. Get rid of the parents and then become the guardian of the orphans and it doesn't take much for the wealthy and powerful to wrest the orphans' inheritances from them. Illegal and unscrupulous means of all types were employed as the rich got richer and the poor were starved, worked to death, abused in all manners, and murdered. In the case of this story, Olive hopes to someday get Nessa, and the other kids they pick up along the way, to the mountain area where she used to live with her mother and father. There they would make a town called Shelterwood, with a church, a school, some chickens, and a cow. Olive had nothing but her dreams and the weight of the world on her young shoulders. The reality of the situation was the kids were all starving and didn't even had the provisions to keep on with their travels.

In 1990, Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren-O’Dell is starting her new job at Horsethief Trail National Park. She's frustrated that she's almost ignored by her co-workers and assigned the most menial of jobs. But she learns that there are the bones of three little girls in a remote cave and she travels there to actually see if the rumors are true. But before the bones can be investigated properly, they are removed and the story covered up. That's when Valerie does her own investigation into the background of the area and learns how the owners of the land in the past lost their lands through exploitation and murder. Danger lurks even now for those who attempt to dig too deep, venture too far, and ask too many questions.

I dreaded each time we went back to Olive's timeline because the life of the children is so brutal, with no sign that things can do anything but get worse. But I couldn't help wanting the best for plucky Olive, who had no choice at all but to be the one to keep her group of ragtag starving orphans alive and hidden while she tried to earn money in town. Valerie's timeline was easier to read despite the fact that there is abuse there, too. For all the rotten, conniving people in this book there are also a lot of good and likeable people, too, and that helped me make my way through the story.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

"Shelterwood" masterfully intertwines the lives of two resilient women separated by nearly a century but connected by their courage and determination. The novel’s title is a tribute to the old shelterwood trees, which protect and nurture the forest, much like the protagonists do for their communities.

In 1909, Olive Augusta Radley, or Ollie, escapes from an abusive stepfather and finds refuge with Native American children in an area she names Shelterwood. This sanctuary becomes a haven for runaway children who have been neglected by their court appointed guardians who have stolen from them. These children survive by hunting, fishing, and performing odd jobs in nearby Talihina, Oklahoma. Despite being dubbed elves or spirits by the locals, they are merely children fighting for survival and freedom.

Fast forward to 1990, and we meet Valerie Boren-Odell, a widow and single mother who has moved to Talihina to work as a Park Ranger at the new Horsethief Trail National Park. Valerie faces her own battles against the entrenched male chauvinism in law enforcement. Her investigation into the discovery of three children's bodies in a cave, the disappearance of a local boy, a suspicious rock slide, and a drowned unknown person brings her story full circle with Ollie's past.

The novel's strength lies in its poignant portrayal of both Ollie and Valerie’s struggles and their quest for justice and a new beginning. Their stories, though set in different times, converge in a powerful and meaningful conclusion.

Despite its compelling narrative, the book’s structure—alternating chapters between 1909 and 1990—can be jarring at times. This abrupt shift occasionally disrupts the flow, but the rich, interwoven tales of survival and resilience make up for this minor flaw.

Overall, "Shelterwood" is a captivating read, deserving of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for its emotive storytelling and the profound connection it draws between its characters across time.

An enjoyable book. I liked the part of the story that earlier and told from the child's point of view. It wrapped up nicely.