A Winter's Rime - Carol Dunbar

A harrowing and emotional novel set in rural Wisconsin A Winter's Rime explores the impact of generational trauma, and one woman's journey to find peace and healing from the violence of her past. Mallory Moe is a twenty-five-year-old veteran Army mechanic, living with her girlfriend, Andrea, and working overnights at a gas station store while figuring out what's next. Andrea's off-grid cabin provides a perfect sanctuary for Mallory, a synesthete with a hypersensitivity to sound that can trigger flashbacks from her childhood. The getaway that's largely abandoned during the off season starts out idyllic, until Andrea's once-loving behavior turns controlling and abusive, and Mallory once again finds herself not wanting to go home. After a particularly disturbing altercation, Mallory escapes into the subzero night and stumbles into Shay, a teenage girl, injured and asking for help. But it isn't long before she realizes that Shay isn't the only one who needs saving. A story about sisterhood and second chances, A Winter's Rime looks to nature to find what it can teach us about bearing hardship and expanding our capacity to forgive not just others, but ourselves.