A coming-of-age story filled with music in language and plot: beautiful and devastating' OBSERVER, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 'I felt consumed by this book. I loved it, you will love it' DAISY JOHNSON 'Will break your heart open, in the best way' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'A page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story steeped in Cherokee history, told in undulating prose that settles right into you' NAOISE DOLAN 'Breathtaking' VOGUE 'A GIRL COMES OF AGE AGAINST THE KNIFE.' So begins the story of Betty. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty inhabits a world of poverty and loss, of lush landscapes and blazing stars. Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to - the horrors of her family's past and present - Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.

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