A tale set in the old west of America, at a time not long after the Civil War, where vast numbers of the Indian population had been murdered and those few who were left behind had no land or legal rights to protect them.
Winona Cole, who had once been know as Ojinjintka, has been taken in by two men who are trying to make a new life for themselves growing tobacco on a small piece of land. They are kind to her, and treat her like a daughter, but many in the town think nothing of hurting an Indian even if she is just a little girl. The men can keep her safe as long as she is on their land, but as she grows older and starts walking out with a young man, they can't watch over her as much as they would like, and around the age of seventeen she is attacked and bought home badly hurt.
Winona can't recall who was responsible for hurting her as everything about it has gone from her memory, but her injuries told the story of what had happened and the people of the farm wanted justice from whoever was responsible.
If I stand back from the story, now that I've finished it, the subject matter ticks a lot of boxes for diversity and inclusion in its three hundred odd pages. There are same sex relationships, cross dressing, mental health issues, minority rights and the role of women, but somehow you almost don't notice as everything is so bound up in a very believable tale.
The book is written from Winona's point of view, and the language is a mix of American terms and economic turns of phrase that perfectly sum up what she sees. Sebastian Barry is a master of his craft, and this book perfectly evokes its time and place and Winona is a wonderful character who is at once both vulnerable and courageous.
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