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A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare' s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way tells the story of a murder most foul and the mighty power of love and acceptance in a state gone terribly rotten.
1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear and hatred in even Hanalee' s oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father' s killer is out of jail and back in town, and he claims that Hanalee' s father wasn' t killed by the accident at all but, instead, was poisoned by the doctor who looked after him—who happens to be Hanalee' s new stepfather.
The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a “haint” wandering the roads at night.
Cat Winters takes a brave look into the under belly of the post WWI cultural climate in America and teaches you about all of the things you never learned in history class.
History buffs and Shakespeare fanatics will want to add a “Cat Winters Collection” space to their bookshelves.
Title: THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY
Author: Cat Winters
Pub. Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare’ s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way tells the story of a
murder most foul and the mighty power of love and acceptance in a state gone terribly rotten.
1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman
and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear
and hatred in even Hanalee’ s oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago,
hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father’ s killer is out of jail and back in town, and he
claims that Hanalee’ s father wasn’ t killed by the accident at all but, instead, was poisoned by
the doctor who looked after him—who happens to be Hanalee’ s new stepfather.
The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a “haint”
wandering the roads at night.
Cat Winters tells a story that is both heartbreaking and heroic; bold in its complicated subject matter and beautiful in the simplicity of its telling.
I loved that the plot of Hamlet was used as a vehicle for this story about a little talked about time in American history. Cat Winters does an excellent job embodying the atmosphere of the era both in her world building and characterization. She brings in all of the popular aspects that made the late teens/early twenties of the 20th century so appealing as well as all the aspects that made it so horrifying.
Setting the mood with Henry Burr: Faded Love Letters. Creepy, eh?
The story unfolds at a pace that lets suspense slowly simmer while details pointing to the murderer of Hanalee’s father unfold in bits and pieces. The characters are exactly what you would expect to see in a movie from the twenties. The author does a superb job at capturing that sepia toned feel you see in antique photographs and translating that strange and exciting eeriness to her writing.
History is brought to life in this novel in a way that both entertains and educates at the same time. This is a book not to be missed (Like all the rest of Cat Winters’ novels).
Flip through the pages of Motion Picture magazine to get a taste of the 1918/20s.
Giveaway Details:
5 winners will receive a finished copy of THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY, US Only.
About Cat:
Cat Winters’ s critically acclaimed debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was named a 2014
Morris Award Finalist, a 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, a 2013 Bram Stoker Award
Nominee, and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013. Her upcoming novels include The
Cure for Dreaming (Amulet Books/Oct. 2014) and The Uninvited (William Morrow/2015), and
she’ s a contributor to the 2015 YA horror anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. She lives
in Portland, Oregon. Visit her online at www.catwinters.com.
Photo by Tara Kelly
Find Cat Online:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr | Pinterest
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
2/29/2016- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview
3/1/2016- The Forest of Words and Pages- Review
3/2/2016- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post
3/3/2016- A Dream Within A Dream- Review
3/4/2016- Stories &
Week Two:
3/7/2016- Jessabella Reads- Review
3/8/2016- Bookish Lifestyle-
3/9/2016- Katie’s Book Blog- Review
3/10/2016- The Fox’s
3/11/2016- MEREADALOT- Review
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