by Anna North
First published 2021
Ada stands at the altar at seventeen, full of hope for her marriage and her future as a midwife like her mother. But in 1894, a woman's worth depends on her fertility. After a year passes without pregnancy, the townspeople begin to whisper. In a place where childless women hang as witches, Ada must run or die. She finds refuge with the Hole in the Wall Gang, outlaws who rob trains and banks across the frontier. Their leader calls himself the Kid, a former preacher whose charm masks a volatile temperament. The Kid dreams of building a sanctuary where cast-off women can live without fear. His followers believe in his vision, but his plans grow more dangerous by the day. The Gang prepares for a robbery that could secure their future or destroy them all. Ada faces an impossible choice between safety and solidarity. She must decide if she will risk everything for women she barely knows and a dream that might be nothing more than another man's fantasy.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: United States, Frontier
Period: 1894
261 pages · Hardcover · Bloomsbury Publishing
Content warnings: abuse