Winter's Bone

by: Daniel Woodrell

Published by: Little, Brown (August release)

Reviewed by Sarra Borne

Sixteen-year-old Ree Dolly is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, she has dreams of leaving behind the stark poverty of her Ozark home to join the army; on the other, she has two younger brothers and a crazy mother who can't take care of herself, let alone her children.

One icy winter's day, Ree learns she has another larger and more immediate problem. Her father has jumped bail after putting up the family home and land as collateral. If he doesn't show up for the court date, they lose the only home their people have known for generations, their land will be sold for timber, and the family will end up living in hillside caves like animals.

Ree sets out on a quest to find her father and bring him back dead or alive. With true grit and fierce determination, she takes on all odds, and continues her search even when warned that she had better not.

She struggles with closed-mouthed, insular relatives who refuse to tell her anything because "talkin' causes witnesses." Undaunted by these wrathful kinsmen, she keeps pushing, until finally the kinsmen push back.

Beaten nearly unto death, Ree finally uncovers the truth about her father, her clan, and the responsibility that the knowledge brings.

This is one dark and disturbing story, yet in under 200 pages, author Woodrell makes it haunting and unforgettable, an emotional ride as complex as it is brief. Ree is a fierce and spirited warrior, and her courage and tenacity will win the reader's heart. The author's spare prose and keen sense of the vernacular draw one in from the first sentence.

Daniel Woodrell has written a number of award-winning novels about the Ozarks and its people. He has even coined a phrase "country noir" in an effort to describe the area he writes about.

Armchair Interviews says: Winter's Bone is Woodrell's eighth book, and one can only assume that it too will be a winner.