Scan barcode
A review by chwaters
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters
3.0
Something's rotten in the state of Oregon. Hanalee Denney's father was killed when he was hit by a car over a year ago. Since then, Hanalee's mother, Greta, has remarried Clyde Koning, a local doctor. It seems like Greta has been able to move on from her husband's death, so why can't Hanalee seem to get over it? Why are there stories circulating around town about a ghost that looks an awful lot like Hank Denney hanging around the very same road that he died upon? Why does it feel like he's looking for something? It should be time to let go, but too many things aren't adding up. Hanalee decides it's time for her to get some answers in spite of her cynicism. With the help of a local girl whose family is know not only for their moonshine, but also their tonics and elixirs, Hanalee takes a potion that will enable her to speak to the dead. There, at the darkened crossroads, she sees her father who tells her that he "puts full blame on the doc" and that he was alive after the car accident. Believing that her stepfather may have had something to do with her father's death, Hanalee seeks out the driver of the car that hit her father, Joe Adder, a local youth fresh out of jail for the crime of hitting someone while driving drunk. Joe insists that Hank was alive when he brought Hank to Dr. Koning after the accident.
Hanalee is floored by the idea that there's more to the story of her father's death and persists in her efforts to find out who killed him and why. Topping her list of suspects is her new stepfather. Topping her list of motives is racism. In 1923, the Ku Klux Klan had a major presence in Oregon, to the extent that they were able to carry out their will with impunity. Hanalee, whose father was black and mother white, risks everything to get to the bottom of this rash and bloody deed.
In case you can't tell by the plot description, this is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Most of the major plot points of the play are there for the beginning of Hanalee's story, though the parallels between the two diminish as The Steep and Thorny Way finds its footing. The historical context is fascinating, if harrowing. It's difficult for modern sensibilities to fathom living in a time where the KKK could have so much control over a state (many blacks, Catholics, Jews and others left the state for kinder environs). As such, many of the scenes in the book serve as an unsettling education about the realities of the era. Luckily, this version of Hamlet doesn't have high body count of the original, but this story maintains the situational gravity.
I didn't have any specific problems with the book other than it moved far more slowly than I would have expected and that it didn't follow the plot of Hamlet as much as I hoped. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare, so when I heard that Cat Winters had published a book featuring a female Hamlet in 1920's Oregon, I was sold. Winters embellishes her narrative with period photos, which adds for a nice, evocative finishing touch. If anything, I wish there had been more of these. While the plot may not be as Hamlet-y as I would have liked, it's still a solid exploration of race and politics in a well-realized historical setting.
Hanalee is floored by the idea that there's more to the story of her father's death and persists in her efforts to find out who killed him and why. Topping her list of suspects is her new stepfather. Topping her list of motives is racism. In 1923, the Ku Klux Klan had a major presence in Oregon, to the extent that they were able to carry out their will with impunity. Hanalee, whose father was black and mother white, risks everything to get to the bottom of this rash and bloody deed.
In case you can't tell by the plot description, this is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Most of the major plot points of the play are there for the beginning of Hanalee's story, though the parallels between the two diminish as The Steep and Thorny Way finds its footing. The historical context is fascinating, if harrowing. It's difficult for modern sensibilities to fathom living in a time where the KKK could have so much control over a state (many blacks, Catholics, Jews and others left the state for kinder environs). As such, many of the scenes in the book serve as an unsettling education about the realities of the era. Luckily, this version of Hamlet doesn't have high body count of the original, but this story maintains the situational gravity.
I didn't have any specific problems with the book other than it moved far more slowly than I would have expected and that it didn't follow the plot of Hamlet as much as I hoped. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare, so when I heard that Cat Winters had published a book featuring a female Hamlet in 1920's Oregon, I was sold. Winters embellishes her narrative with period photos, which adds for a nice, evocative finishing touch. If anything, I wish there had been more of these. While the plot may not be as Hamlet-y as I would have liked, it's still a solid exploration of race and politics in a well-realized historical setting.