Shadows of Pecan Hollow

A Novel

By: Caroline Frost

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

Winner of the Crook's Corner Book Prize, finalist for the Golden Poppy Award, and longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

""This 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 Fountain

Set 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

Bad Girl Gone Good

I enjoyed this story and the several twists it takes. It gave a very fresh perspective of how one recovers after a life of foster homes, and the strength of mothers. How the longing for a family love is deeply in bedded in us all, and forgiveness in all its forms is strong medicine to heal battered souls.

Amazing story

Listened to this and enjoyed every chapter while driving from Wisconsin to Florida! What a story, and beautifully performed!

Just ok

Agree with another reviewer, almost gave up 3/4 of the way through when I could tell where the storyline was going, but wanted to see it through. Wish I hadn’t bothered honestly, it’s a drawn out & depressing story with a mediocre ending. Also there is a fair amount of graphic violence, including animal violence which I could have done without.

Engrossing tale of family ties

This wrenching story of the rough life of an abandoned girl and her search for connections—no matter the cost—and then her life as a mother, intent on giving her daughter a better deal than she had, is impossible to put down. Poignant, tough, and raw, the author has given us a tale of life on the edge.

WARNING: GRAPHIC ANIMAL ABUSE/MURDER

There were sections of the story that should have come with a warning!! Not just animal cruelty, but OVERLY descriptive animal cruelty and vicious murder which did not add any value to the story. I almost turned it off an hour in, but I was driving and just kept going. The part about the horse near the end was ridiculous. Can't get over it. Wish I could erase that. I would likely review higher if not for that. Anyway, let's just say this novel is not for the faint of heart and the antagonist spirals from a bad guy who had almost nice qualities in the beginning to immeasurably evil, murderous and mentally unstable at the end. Beautiful writing in some places, but in others, there is no way actual people would say the words written as dialogue, I don't care who you are. Some of this may have been due to the nasally over-theatric narrator's voice, which was, at times, difficult to listen to. Overall, I'm not upset I spent a credit on it, but it should have come with an animal cruelty warning. Some violence is expected in today's world, but this was overboard.