Queenie's Song

Shy and withdrawn, ten-year-old Aimee seems an ordinary, under-achieving girl until a series of events force her discovery of the extraordinary powers that abide within us all. When Aimee is suddenly orphaned on her tenth birthday she is sent to live with her only living relative, Aunt Delilah, whom she barely knows. And that is where she meets Queenie - a sassy outspoken waif of a girl who reveals herself only to Aimee. Queenie both goads and consoles Aimee on her headlong flight from her Aunt Dee's, to a psychiatric ward, through dark and forbidding forests, chased along the way by unforeseen enemies and aided by by unexpected allies on her journey of self-discovery.

Set in the 1960's mid-south, Aimee's story is shared in strict third person closed, allowing the reader to to see ony what Aimee sees and know only what Aimee knows. As she gradually and painstakingly learns the true roots of her origin the voice of the story matures alongside Aimee, making Qeene's Song a smoldering, subtly nuanced psychological thriller that rewards with a bonfire ending.

In a dramatic shift of style from his first book, Those We Leave Behind, Winters invites discerning readers of all ages into the world of Aimee Dee Newman as she is forced into a two-week metamorphisis from a frightened and confused little girl into a force of nature as powerful and universal and the worlds oldest religion.

"... gorgeously written. The lush descriptions of Aimee's inner world are particularly enticing." - Blueink Review

"A fable-like novel with otherworldly visions, vividly drawn characters, and dynamic prose." - Kirkus Reviews