“A coming-of-age story filled with magic 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, author of Sisters
“A page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story told in undulating prose that settles right into you”
— Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times
“Vivid and lucid, Betty has stayed with me”
— Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
“I loved Betty”
— Fiona Mozley, author of Hot Stew
“Breathtaking”
— Vogue

“A GIRL COMES OF AGE AGAINST THE KNIFE”

So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a white mother and a Cherokee father, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings: the world they inhabit in the rural town of Breathed, Ohio, is one of poverty and loss, of lush landscapes and blazing stars.

Despite the hardships she encounters, 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 to which she bears witness—the horrors of her family’s past and present—Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.