TAYSHAS 15

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

It wasn't until I finished this book that I realized the author had a book on the TAYSHAS list a few years ago. That one was about the flu pandemic in the early twentieth century. This one took place a few years after that, but, in many ways, the subject matter is more serious.

Before I go too much further, this is a revisioning of Hamlet. There were several places reading this where this was evident. There were other parts that diverged from the Bard's tale, and, oddly, I was pleased.

Taking place in July 1923, in Oregon, this book covers the KKK, homosexuality, and prohibition. Heavy stuff all by themselves, but even more so all together in a book meant for teenagers. I was captivated for many of the same reasons that To Kill a Mockingbird and Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry captivate me.

Hanalee is a teenaged mulatto girl whose father died some eighteen months previously. He was hit by a car, driven by Joe, who was driving while intoxicated. Joe has been released from prison, and he is hiding out. Someone told Hanalee that Joe wanted to talk to her; he wants her to know he didn't actually kill her father. He blames Hanalee's stepfather for doing the deed, and Hanalee doesn't want to believe him. Needless to say, it takes some convincing.

More than all of that though, the KKK in the area is out to get Joe and Hanalee. Joe because he prefers boys, and that is unacceptable, and Hanalee because she is half black. As it turns out, the KKK wants more than just the two of them.

I don't want to go into too much more. I am so happy we don't live in times like those, but sometimes, it doesn't seem that much better. I don't know why we can't look back on the past and find a way to live in harmony. People come in all colors and not everyone is heterosexual. Why does that matter? Why do we place such importance on something so irrelevant?