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2024 Texas Great Read
Adult Selection

The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook

Cover of the book The Which Way Tree showing a drawing of a black panther on a yellow background with white text over it of the title and author


The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook - Early one morning in the remote hill country of Texas in the 1860s, a panther savagely attacks a family of homesteaders, mauling a young girl named Samantha and killing her mother, whose final act is to save her daughter's life. Samantha and her half-brother Benjamin survive, but she is left traumatized, her face horribly scarred. Narrated in Benjamin's beguilingly plainspoken voice, The Which Way Tree is the story of Samantha's unshakeable resolve to stalk and kill the infamous panther, rumored across the Rio Grande to be a demon, and avenge her mother's death. 
 

Photograph of author Elizabeth Crook

About the Author

Elizabeth Crook is the author of six novels including The Which Way Tree, The Night Journal–which received the Spur Award from Western Writers of America—and Monday, Monday, winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. Crook’s latest novel, The Madstone, a sequel to The Which Way Tree, was published in 2023. She is the recipient of the 2023 Texas Writer Award from the Texas Book Festival. Elizabeth lives in Austin with her family. Visit her website at elizabethcrookbooks.com.

 


 

 



Page last modified: May 9, 2024