Shadows of Pecan Hollow — Caroline Frost

Winner of the Crook's Corner Book Prize, finalist for the Golden Poppy Award, and longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel PrizeThis immersive, full—bodied novel will keep its hooks in you long after the last page is read, and marks the arrival of a tremendously wise and talented writer.—Ben FountainSet in 1970—90s Texas, a mesmerizing story about a fierce woman and the partner—in—crime she can’t escape, perfect for readers of Where the Crawdads Sing and Valentine.It was 1970 when thirteen—year—old runaway Kit Walker was abducted by Manny Romero, a smooth—talking, low—level criminal, who first coddled her and then groomed her into his partner—in—crime. Before long, Kit and Manny were infamous for their string of gas station robberies throughout Texas, making a name for themselves as the Texaco Twosome.Twenty years after they meet, Kit has scraped together a life for herself and her daughter amongst the pecan trees and muddy creeks of the town of Pecan Hollow, far from Manny. But when he shows up at her doorstep a new man, fresh out of prison, Kit is forced to reckon with the shadows of her past. A gritty, penetrating, and unexpectedly tender novel, Shadows of Pecan Hollow is a hauntingly intimate and distinctly original debut about the complexity of love—both romantic and familial—and the bonds that define us. “Paper Moon meets Badlands in this mesmerizing Texas backroads thriller, a twisty story of a runaway girl who finds a home and a desperate love on the road with an opportunistic criminal.”—Janet Fitch