Daniel Woodrell's Winter’s Bone is a 2006 mystery-crime novel about Ree Dolly, a sixteen-year-old girl whose family home will be seized unless she can find her missing father and make him appear in court. Determined to secure a place to live for her younger brothers and mentally ill mother, Ree stubbornly and bravely probes into the criminal network of her extended family, all of whom warn her to stop. Eventually, Ree discovers that her father was murdered after his associates learned he had become a police informer.
Set in the highland region of the Missouri Ozarks, the novel depicts the impoverished circumstances in which Ree and her family live. Kept warm by a wood-burning stove in an inherited house in the hills, the Dollys' only source of income is the money Ree's father, Jessup, used to make as a "crank cook" (methamphetamine producer). With Jessup facing a ten-year sentence and missing while out on bail, Ree is charged with the responsibility of caring for her younger brothers and mentally ill mother. Ree's indifference to her father's whereabouts and well-being changes when she learns that he signed over the family home in order to bail himself out of jail. Unless he shows in court, the property will be seized by a bail bond company. Ree asks Jessup's associates, including the local crime boss Thump Milton, about where Jessup might be. Almost everyone tells her to stop asking questions. When the court date passes without Jessup appearing, Ree deduces Jessup must have been killed. She returns to Thump Milton's intending to prove Jessup's death, but is ambushed by Thump's wife and sisters. Teardrop, Jessup's brother, rescues Ree from the situation and agrees to help her find Jessup's bones as long as he never learns who carried out the murder. The novel ends with Thump's wife, Merab, and her sisters bringing Ree to Jessup's body, which has been submerged in an iced-over pond. At Merab's command, Ree cuts off his hands with a chainsaw and delivers them to the police, who check his fingerprints against those on file. The novel ends with Ree receiving the bond money an anonymous man posted to free Jessup. Teardrop deduces from what the bondsman says that the man must have been Sleepy John, an associate of Thump's. He realizes John freed Jessup so he could murder him before Jessup revealed information to the police. Teardrop sets out to exact his revenge while Ree tells her brothers she intends to buy a vehicle with the unexpected bail money.
Exploring themes of addiction, poverty, survival, responsibility, and pride, Winter's Bone depicts the interconnected conflicts of Ozarks residents caught up in the methamphetamine trade at a time when Missouri had the highest number of meth lab seizures out of any U.S. state.
In 2010, Winter’s Bone was adapted into a critically acclaimed film of the same name, directed by Debra Granik and starring Jennifer Lawrence. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay.
