Steep and Thorny Way

Description

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, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now the killer is out of jail and back in town, and he's claiming that Hanalee's father's death wasn't an accident at all. Instead, he says that Hank was poisoned by the doctor who looked after him - who just so happens to be Hanalee's new stepfather. In order to get the answers she needs, Hanalee will have to ask a "haint" wandering the roads at night - her father himself.

Cat Winters is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novels The Steep and Thorny Way, The Cure for Dreaming, and In the Shadow of Blackbirds, the latter of which collected three starred reviews and was a William C. Morris Award YA Debut Award finalist. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit the author at catwinters.com.