I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Terrific novel about Choctaw orphans and their brutal treatment in Oklahoma. The resilience of the children who were able to escape is inspiring.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the copy of Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate. I love a good dual timeline book and this one started out great and I loved both timelines, but they went on and on and it felt like not much was happening. I appreciate how much research went into the 1909 timeline but it didn’t really pique my interest. If you love the historical storyline, this is the perfect book for you.

After reading the powerful book Killers of the Flower Moon, I was not sure I was ready to read another book about the atrocities that happened to the Native Americans in Oklahoma. I am so glad I read Shelterwood. While it is a fictional account, it is based on true situations that fell upon the children.

The book has parallel stories about children and those who tried to protect and others who harmed in 1909 and the more current time of 1990 when a new park ranger learns about children's bones found in a cave. The writing style and storyline held my attention as I learned more about the injustices that were inflicted on the Native Americans.

Definitely recommend.

What a great enlightening story! I had no idea about the elve children - Ollie, Nessa and Hazel - the true unsung heroes. This story is about friendship, different environments and languages and how folks who are SO DIFFERENT can come together and LIVE. Survive. Build a community. Truely enlightening.

I could not wait to get my hands on Lisa Wingate’s latest book. Wingate has written compellingly of children caught up in difficult/desperate circumstances being taken advantage of by adults in previous novels Before They Were Yours and The Book of Lists. Her extensive research brings historical situations to life in the characters she creates.

Shelterwood is a sympathetically written story of some of the hardships and injustices experienced by native Americans in Oklahoma during the land grab days. We learned of many of the horrendous abuses in Killers of the Flower Moon, but this story leads from the perspective of the children. In this earlier timeline, two young girls, Ollie and Nessie, take to the woods to try to escape from an abusive stepfather and reach a place of safety. Their plight and their adventures keep your heart in your throat as they make narrow escapes from those who would harm them. (Wingate weaves in the story of Kate Barnard, who was the first woman elected to public office in Oklahoma, and who was a champion of women and children AND instigated the first public report of the Osage murders.)

Shelterwood is also a contemporary story of a female park ranger who becomes enmeshed in the fallout from a modern day land grab of resources from federal lands. Valerie desperately wants to make her way in the Park Rangers and make a good life for herself and her son. Almost immediately Val is faced with a missing teenage boy and a cave with three small graves, along with a supervisor who isn’t thrilled to have a female ranger and the boy’s sister who begs for help to find him. What is the connection between the stories? That keeps you wondering and a little fearful.

Wingate is a master at making you care deeply about the subjects of her books. She weaves in historical accuracy and great character development, with just enough suspense. This is another winner.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book takes place during the early days of Oklahoma's statehood; the land runs have already happened, and the indigenous people have been relocated. Their homes have been stolen or swindled by opportunistic men who want the oil and gas underneath. In the process of relocation, adults have been killed and children have been left in the care of state guardians who are taking the money for themselves. These guardians often have as many as 50 orphan children who they are supposed to be supervising, but they simply don't bother to keep track of them. These children are left to fend for themselves. This is the story of some of those children, two girls in particular, Ollie and Nessa.

Lisa Wingate has done her homework on the historical research that was required to make this novel sing. It's descriptions of the Winding Stairs mountain area are beautifully drawn. Her story of the hardship that these two orphan girls endure to simply survive in a world where they have no one but each other is hard heart-hitting.

The story unfolds on two time lines; that of a female park ranger in 1990 and the tale of Ollie and Nessa in 1909. There is a bit of mystery, which slowly resolves itself as these timeline merge. It's well constructed, and while the end is not a huge twist, it does contain a nice surprise.

All in all this was a lovely reading choice, and I'm glad that I picked it up.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, which in this case, I'm happy to give.

Told in two different time periods but the same location, this compelling story set in Oklahoma pulls you in and doesn't let go. Although the story switched between the two times and set of characters, both are engaging enough to draw you in for more.

As a lover of historical fiction, this is a time period I knew almost nothing about, so I was into this story. As happens with most dual timelines, I enjoyed one storyline more than the other. Wingate continues to write some fascinating historical fiction of little know historical time periods and events!

I have been drawn to Lisa Wingate's books since I read Tending Roses years ago. Her book Before We Were Yours is especially dear to me as I'm adopted. In Shelterwood we are introduced once again to children in trouble and the Choctaw nation which added an interesting aspect to the story.

As we meet Olive and Nessa in 1909 my heart is immediately drawn to them. Olive is doing all she can to save her little sister Nessa from the scum of a stepfather they have; then as we move to 1990 we meet Valerie, a park ranger who is as loving and protective as Olive. This book is set in Oklahoma, a place I lived for a short period, and Ms. Wingate uses the history of the Choctaw nation to create a story that will both wreck your heart and encourage your spirit as you learn things in history that should never be forgotten. I loved the historical part which is typical.

Lisa Wingate has a unique ability to tell compelling and heartwrenching stories involving children in danger wrapped in historical timelines, which has made her a go-to author for me. I love learning things while reading, which is probably why historicals are some of my favorite reads; and dual-time lines are the best in my opinion.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via the publisher. I was not required to write a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have always enjoyed Wingate’s stories. This one started out really really strong. I was pretty hooked on both timelines. Especially the past one about, but also the other for its mystery. It started to fall off about halfway through. I started to get bored and wishing it’d just get to what happened. I felt like it could have been shorter, yet I appreciated the historical aspect and know that it likely all needed to be said to get that aspect correct. All in all- good historical fiction.

This was a very informational book. I learned so much about a time in American history of which I was totally ignorant. Like the author indicated, this was not a section of American history that was ever taught or discussed. The lives of the Native American children at that time was most interesting. Their survival skills was most commendable. It was also most interesting to learn of the wmen’s movement to protect the children.
Honestly, I was least interested in the “modern” story. However, it did tie together the historical story.
As an advocate of children’s rights, the story did keep my interest.

Shelterwood, by Lisa Wingate, is a heartbreaking historical fiction of a time in history that I was unfamiliar with. It is told in dual timelines (1909 and 1990) when Native American families were "legally" robbed of the deeds/rights to the land they owned and what some of the children had to go through as part of the process of taking those rights at the hands of their guardians. It is so sad how some of the "good people" did this to these children and uplifting to see how the truly good people treated them. I loved this book. If you are a fan of Before We Were Yours, this is a must-read!
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

Lisa Wingate in telling heartbreaking stories of children touches me and teaches me about parts of our history that l knew nothing about. In dual time lines, 1909 and 1990 in Oklahoma, Wingate skillfully executes this as she has done in other stories of historical significance. In the 1909 part of the story I was drawn to eleven year old Olive Radley who is caring and smart and tries her best to save and protect six year old Nessa, a Choctaw girl from the abuse of her vile stepfather. Their journey reflects on the a time when Native American children were robbed of their land rights and highlights the strong women who worked to protect them. In the 1990 part of the story, Valerie Boren-O’Dell , a young widow and park ranger, is as tenacious and strong as Olive as she attempts to solve the mystery of bones discovered. As usually happens though, I was more drawn to the historical time.

Highly recommend for those who loved Before We Were Yours , and actually anyone who enjoys good historical fiction which transports you to a place and time that will inform you of things we need to remember and move you in ways that will at the same time break your heart and raise your spirit with the resilience and strength of the characters.

I received a copy of this book from Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

Two stories in this book made me feel like I was walking through the deep, cold woods on a challenging journey.

Valerie Boren-Odell was transferred in 1990 to Southeastern Oklahoma as a National Park Service Law Enforcement Ranger. She was in charge of the mountainous area filled with winding trails taking care of hikers with heat strokes, rattlesnake bites, encounters with bears and rockfalls. There was never a dull moment especially when she learned about the discovery of three children’s bones in a cave.

Olive Augusta Peele was 11-years-old in 1909. She was headed for the woods across the river and up to the mountain to feel safe. She was trying to protect two younger orphans with hardly enough to eat and survive. Life was very cruel for these little ones, some called elves, hiding in trees with black hoods and running wild in the woods. This book describes what these children endured under unbearable conditions.

The research is remarkable for a story that has been relatively hidden over the years. The dialect of the young children was good, making it easy to imagine. I loved how Valerie was brave and strong with her search for a missing teenager and identifications of the bones.

However, there were a lot of characters slowing me down in parts. The two timelines could have been separated into their own stories with so much to tell. At the end of the chapter, I wanted to learn more and then it jumped to another timeline making it feel a little disjointed. Yet, both pieces came together at the end. I enjoyed reading the Author’s Notes which provided more details of the time period. She also included a list of historical references which showed the intense amount of research done.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of June 4, 2024.

Really great story with plenty of mystery and history combined. It was well written and was easy to be invested in the characters’ stories as they unraveled mysteries or tried to protect their friends and families.

I enjoyed Ollie’s story and learning about what was going on during time with the land theft and how the kids survived as a family to escape it, as well as Kate Barnard’s influence. It’s crazy to me to learn about her initial success as a politician and advocate even before women’s voting rights came along. It’s so sad how much abuse was happening for the sake of money and greed, and the book helped paint that picture well.

Valerie’s story brought a really great mystery and I also loved the focus of a women in a lonely role of a federal Park Ranger in a world dominated by men, and how she navigated that with courage, even when it was difficult. I thought her sections brought great intrigue and unfolded well.

The only reason it was a 4 star book for me instead of 5 stars was the dual timeline. I don’t mind them in general but for some reason I had a hard time switching gears between Valerie’s and Ollie’s stories. It was sometimes difficult to remember where I left off previously. But I did love how the story tied the timelines together in the end.

Thanks for Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Lisa Wingate has a way with writing about heartbreaking circumstances. She made this book feel so real. Shelterwood alternates between 1909 and 1990 and flawlessly weaves the characters until the stories come together. In 1909, a group of young children find themselves having to survive on their own under bleak conditions. In 1990, A woman coming to terms with her own terrible situation, uncovers a story that needs to be told. Everything comes to a satisfying conclusion. I feel like Lisa can't resist adding a hint of romance but it's definitely not the main focus and didn't take away from the main plot. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read Shelterwood.

This book alternated between the story of children exploited in the Winding Stair Mountain region of Oklahoma in the early 1900s and the story of a female US Dept. of Parks law enforcement officer in the same region during the 1990s. The voices of the characters were interesting and believable. The story was very engaging and interesting. The author’s research was extensive and her notes were very helpful in understanding the background. I was enthralled by both stories!

I loved the history in this book, and am grateful to know it. Between this and "Killers of the Flower Moon," I went from knowing nothing to quite a few things about the stealing of land in Oklahoma from tribal communities. This book reminded me of a mix of "Killers of the Flower Moon" and a season of "Fargo," and while I enjoyed that combination, sometimes the dual timeline felt a bit jarring, jumping both too quickly but also taking a long time to get going. It really picked up in the last quarter of the book, but I found the last 10% to be a bit pat in terms of tying things up neatly and somewhat sentimentally. Still, these stories are important, and they're not just historical--such things are ongoing today.

Beautifully written novel of Native American life in the early 1900's. Highlights the difficulty of children especially and how they were used and poorly treated. This is a history that I have never learned about before but is very important. Told in a very moving way.

Awesome Book!!! Could not put it down. I felt as I was actually there with the characters in the book. My heart went out to the terrible treatment of these children by their guardians..