She knows her father's reputation as the best and most careful cook, and does not think he would have blown up a lab.Ĭonvinced she might still bring her father back, Ree takes Gail on her next ventures. He drags Ree from the house, and drives her to a burned-out house, where he assures Ree her father died. Shortly thereafter, Blond Milton barges into the home, furious that Ree has been asking around about Jessup. Ree welcomes her company, feeling a deep longing for intimacy with her friend.

She and her infant son, Ned, begin staying with Ree and her family as a result. While staying with Ree, Gail tells her friend that her husband is cheating on her. Thump, however, assures Ree that her husband will never see her, and tells her never to return to the property.īack home, Ree is delighted when her childhood friend, Gail, arrives and agrees to help her find Jessup. While there, she is told she must visit Thump Milton if she wants to know the truth. Despite their warnings, Ree ventures off to Hawkfall and begins inquiring after Jessup. Because all of the Dolly men cook meth, they are involved with dangerous men, with whom they do not want Ree to interact. Both men, however, discourage Ree's efforts. Ree starts her search for Jessup by invoking the help of her father's brother, Uncle Teardrop, and his first cousin, Blond Milton. She realizes her chances of escaping her entrapping familial and environmental circumstances are rapidly decreasing.

So when one day, Deputy Baskins arrives with word that, if Jessup should fail to appear in court the following week, the family will lose their home and property, Ree becomes even more overwhelmed. Because her mother is mentally incapacitated, and her father is perpetually absent, the majority of the home and family responsibilities are left to Ree.

When Ree Dolly discovers that her lawless father, Jessup Dolly, has skipped bail, she becomes determined to locate him in order to save her family from financial ruin. Told in the third person, and written in the past tense, the novel is divided into unnumbered and untitled chapters. New York: Back Bay Books, 2006.ĭaniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone is set in the Ozark Mountains, and follows the story of 16-year-old Ree Dolly's search for her father, and for her own identity. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Woodrell, Daniel.

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell