The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Hanalee's father died a year ago.  He was a black man, her mother is white.  It's the 1920's in Oregon and while it's been a nice place to grow up, people are starting to look at her different.  It seems the KKK has a foot in town and thinks her type shouldn't be allowed there.  Then the boy that hit her father and killed him tells her he didn't kill him.  He died while the doctor was behind a closed door with himbut not from the accident injuries.  Hanalee is thrown for a loop because that doctor married her mother...

Amulet Book sent me a copy of an ARC of this book for review (thank you).  It will published March 8th.

Prejudice is an evil thing.  From my point of view, so was the KKK.  Of course, back in 1920, even white women weren't allowed much.  Still reading this book about life in the small imaginary city was hard to do.  I liked Hanalee, understood her problems and hoped for the best for her.

Ms. Winters writes a good story.  While Hanalee is hating the doctor because she thinks he killed her father, she's trying to help Joe.  He's been accused of the murder, served his time and he's now hiding out until he can figure out what to do.  The tale gets a little more sordid when he admits the real reason he got jailed was because he is gay.

If that's not bad enough, Hanalee finds out her dad was talking about the Dock, a restaurant here in town.  She tries to brace them to find out what happened with no luck.  She shouldn't have.  Now she's way up on their list to run out of town.

The time's violent, friends become enemies, and town comes apart at the seams.  It's a good thing Hanalee is resilient because she's going to need all her strength and integrity to recover from her experiences.  She will though.  I know she will.