Winona

Winona is a young girl who lives with her adoptive father figures, John Cole and Thomas McNulty in a small town in Tennessee after the Civil War. Winona is of Indian origins and her entire family was killed in the Indian massacres during the war. She often thinks of her mother in order to bring her comfort, but she feels all alone in the world because she does not have access to her heritage. Her story is told to show her growing and aging with her guardians and discovering a deeper connection to the family she has built around her. Winona is fearless and regularly ventures out more than her John and Thomas would like her to. They, however, encourage her curiosity and gumption while still trying to protect her.

Winona is also engaged to a boy named Jas Jonski at the beginning of the novel although she...