Bitterroot: A Novel

by Suzy Vitello

A forensic artist confronts a crime against her own family, while MAGA politics, racism and violence rage in a small town in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho. 

Set in the fictional town of Steeplejack, nestled in the Bitterroot Mountains, Hazel Mackenzie provides law enforcement with sketch art and victim reconstruction following suspected crimes. Trouble strikes twice when her husband dies in an accident and then soon after, her gay twin brother Kento is shot by a member of Steeplejack’s growing anti-LBGTQ community during a gender reveal party for his child. 

Secrets boil up. First an ugly secret about her late husband. Then Hazel finds letters written by her great-grandfather during the second world war when as a first-generation Japanese-American serving in the US military, the rest of the family was interned in a prison-like camp. Now, some eighty years later, the same racism and prejudice threaten to strip Kento and his husband of their basic rights to their baby. Hazel must now confront her own intergenerational trauma as she battles for herself, her brother, and a town that has been torn apart by hate.

Genres: Fiction

260 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2024

About the author

Suzy Vitello is a proud founding member of a critique group recently dubbed The Hottest Writing Group in Portland, and her short stories have won fellowships and prizes (including the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Award, and an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship).

Suzy's novels, FAULTLAND, THE MOMENT BEFORE, THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES and THE KEEPSAKE are available wherever books and ebooks are sold.

An e-chapbook of some of her stories, UNKISS ME, can be found here

Find out more about Suzy

Reviews

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love everything about this new press - Sybilline Press - which publishes books by women over 50. This novel in particular was a dramatic whirlwind, one that I think my mother would have enjoyed reading. Shortly after Hazel's husband dies in a freak accident, her twin brother and his husband decide to have a baby using her brother's ex-girlfriend as a surrogate...and that is only the beginning of this interwoven, intricate plot.

Through the course of the novel, Hazel and her brother battle against the anti-LGBT laws of Idaho, MAGA-minded militias, and neighbors who literally threaten their lives. It is emotionally charged and raw, but it is also a reality in some places in America. Vitello does a great job of writing the extreme in a very real way. Vitello tackled a lot of topics very well in 272 pages, which demonstrates considerable talent.

The setting of this novel is a small town in the mountains Idaho, but it could be a lot of small towns in America. The sense of place is incredibly strong throughout the book. Hazel and her brother struggle through complicated feelings about their hometown, which I'm certain is relatable for many people. The publication timing of this novel - May 2024 - is just about perfect. I hope a lot of folks read this one.

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set somewhere in small town of Idaho, the novel centres on twins. Hazel is a recently widowed thirty year old who does law enforcement sketches. Her husband of three years died in a freak car accident and she's having issues dealing with his sudden death. When she gets an insurance payout, she decides to renovate her home. Her twin Kento is married to Tom. Both are driven to adopt a baby. Kento get his old high school girlfriend to agree to carry his future baby. Trouble starts when the girlfriend's redneck husband retaliates violently. He seems to think that LBGTQ community is out to mess with the town and its conservative ways. The novel takes a dozen of interesting and unexpected turns, some lighthearted but most dead serious. In a nutshell, Bitterroot serves as an honest (if not outright ugly) mirror of today's American social landscape.

[Books Amongst Friends · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tackles a myriad of intense and timely issues, including abortion laws, LGBTQIA rights, racism, same-sex marriage, romance, second chances, grief, familial drama, and more. Despite this, I almost DNF'd it at about 25% because I found it quite slow. However, I stuck it out, and around 45%, the story began to heat up as the consequences of the characters' actions started to unfold.

While I appreciate the breadth of topics covered, I struggled with the logistics and character decisions. The plotline involving Kento wanting to have a baby with his homophobic, racist ex-girlfriend from high school, who is still in love with him and hates his husband, felt particularly far-fetched. The ex-girlfriend, still legally married to an abusive, homophobic man, was another layer of implausibility. The rationale behind these decisions—to spite Kento’s father—seemed especially nonsensical and dangerous.

The subplot with the affair with Hazel's deceased husband felt underdeveloped and ultimately fell flat. The affair didn't come as a surprise given the husband's unlikeable nature and seemed like a plot device to explain Hazel's financial situation rather than an integral part of the story. Maybe this was done to give Hazel closure, given how the author brought that to a close, though it appeared distracting.

Despite its chaotic and implausible plot, the book may appeal to those who enjoy messy family dramas. However, even in such stories, I need some logical coherence, which I found lacking here. The characters, especially Kento, made impulsive and indecisive choices that were hard to overlook. For instance, the decision to let the ex-girlfriend stay in Hazel’s house despite all the red flags was baffling.

The ending, where major crimes are brushed under the rug with the help of a conveniently available lawyer, felt rushed and unconvincing. The romance subplot, while predictable, was one of the book’s redeeming qualities. It was refreshing to see Hazel move on from her toxic ex-husband and find potential happiness with Simon, who seemed to be the only consistently likable character.

Overall, the book's pacing was both a strength and a weakness. It took a while to get going, but once it did, it was relentless, making for a somewhat dizzying read. If you enjoy fast-paced, messy family dramas with a touch of romance, you might find "Bitterroot" engaging. However, if you prefer stories with more logical consistency, this one might be a challenging read. I’m landing on 2-2.5 stars (edited), because I can’t say it’s irredeemable and I know what may not be for me might make someone else’s day.

Thanks to NetGalley & Sibylline Press for this ARC.

[Rachel Barnard · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a small town in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho, Hazel works as a forensic artist. She mostly keeps to herself but is suddenly thrust into the midst of her brother’s chaotic struggle. Kento and his partner are using a surrogate to have a baby. In Idaho. With an ex-girlfriend who is married. What could go wrong in a conservative town full of anti-LGBTQIA sentiment and guns?

The main character Hazel can diffuse so many potentially violent situations but the chaos just keeps coming into her life. She is still processing her childhood trauma when her husband suddenly and abruptly dies. Thrust into this new grief, it’s fascinating to watch Hazel navigate her new life. And then again her life is thrust into chaos when Kento, her brother, decides to get involved with an ex-girlfriend who is still married. Why would he choose someone like her to be a surrogate? Corinda, the ex, seems highly unstable and unpredictable and yet the author humanizes her through Hazel. I feel exasperated by the situation. It becomes harder and harder to blame Corinda though, as more and more of the story and past unfolds. Each character is complex, layered, and both a product of the environment and their conservative upbringing. In this way, the characters come to life as real people with real lives and real motivations.

The story, more than the characters, is larger than life as the chaos unfolds. I was riveted by the story. What could possibly happen next? It all seems unreal but makes sense in the context of the setting and the community the author crafts in this fictional small town. Step across the border from Washington into Idaho and you step into a different world. A world with fewer rights for LGBTQIA folks. A world with a different political and social atmosphere. A world with different laws and legislation.

There are so many themes/sub-plots intertwined that I had so much to think about as I was reading and getting sidetracked by the main story. I could probably have an hours-long discussion of all the myriad issues brought up in this book, including same-sex marriage and rights, grief and death, family drama, small-town struggles, and LGBTQIA rights and struggles.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced novel with multi-faceted characters and a striking setting.

[Lorraine Devon Wilke · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you read a lot of fiction, as I do, you start to see that there are some basic themes, tropes, and plotlines that get used over and over and while the books may be entertaining and hold your interest while you’re reading, they don’t stick with you, and they certainly don’t jump out as being particularly original. Then there’s the books that do.

BITTERROOT by Suzy Vitello is one of those books.

I was immediately captivated by the tone and style of the writing; Vitello is a master at smart, snappy dialogue and beautifully detailed world building. The plot pulled me in without hesitation, and Hazel, our protagonist, was so damn interesting, so complex and original—in what she did for a living, her origin story, her emotional DNA, her relationships—that, though it may be trite to say, I didn’t want her story to end.

Set in the red state town of Steeplejack, Idaho, the story throws us into a complicated and many-tentacled plot line that starts with a tragic accident that rips Hazel’s life apart in myriad ways, then slams us into a run-in with an increasingly racist and homophobic element in the town which damn near kills Hazel’s gay brother—who’s simply trying to live life with his husband and, hopefully, a child surrogated by an old friend who happens to be insane—which sets off a series of attacks and crimes that seem almost impossible to untangle.

Hazel eventually joins forces with a somewhat unconventional lawyer to help her pull apart the various threads endangering them all, and in the tense, fast-paced, sometimes even charming evolution of the narrative, we are driven to turn the page, always engaged and rooting for the main characters.

I truly loved this book. It’s smart, funny, dramatic, and contemporary. It knows how and when to tug at our romantic heartstrings, never hesitates to pull back the curtain on many of our country’s current bigotries and biases, and how brilliant that it manages to accomplish all that without ever getting preachy or pedantic!

A high recommend.

[Shine with Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small town America can be a place filled with friendly, relatable people, but it can also be the complete opposite. Suzy Vitello dives right in and manages to create a small town setting blanketed in negative feelings fuelled by extreme viewpoints and ideologies, and her passion for these sensitive topics comes through in her writing.

Steeplejack is a fictitious small town in Idaho. The main characters find themselves victims of hatred or participants of spreading hatred in a community with a range of prejudices towards minority groups. Personally, the two characters that stood out most to me were Hazel and Corinda. Hazel is a forensic artist (you don't hear that every day; nice touch) who has dealt with her fair share of tragedy, but keeps powering on and dealing with situations as they arise. Corinda radiates all kinds of chaos, reminding me of the character Ruth in the tv series, Ozark. Yes, she is quite the controversial one!

Overall thoughts: This story gives voice to hate crimes and hatred-filled dialogue that unfortunately does still exist and will resonate with some readers. On the other hand, some readers will find this story confronting, as it does touch on blanket descriptors/stereotypes for those with more conservative beliefs. As far as the plot and flow of the story, it will have some surprises in store for you. Seeing as the version that I have read was an ARC, I am hoping some of the characters, events and connections will be further developed. Bitterroot contains a perspective worth sharing, even if it makes us uncomfortable.

Thank you Sibylline Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions are my own.

[P Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Bitterroot, author Suzy Vitello has given us a whip-smart contemporary novel that snaps the reader to attention with its underlying question. What happens to individual rights when a community pursues its own agenda? Hazel and her twin brother Kento are mixed race in the white man’s world of small-town Idaho. And they have several strikes against them. Kento is gay and married to his partner. They are making a life in Seattle until they decide to use an old high school friend as a surrogate. Meanwhile, Hazel’s popular husband has died in an accident and she finds little sympathy in a community that perhaps only tolerated her “otherness” because of her husband. She also has a modicum of financial stability in a place where that is a rare commodity. The scheme for surrogacy falls apart under the pressure of prejudice and rumor and Vitello has us catching our breath to keep up. Her writing sparkles and her superbly-drawn characters are people you know. This startling, shining gem of a book will keep you turning the pages and hoping that justice, tolerance, love, and good will somehow prevail.

[Erin Van Rheenen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you noticed that fiction writers often excel at either plot or character, but rarely both? Suzy Vitello is an exception to that rule.

Her novel Bitterroot carries readers along with a propulsive plot, involving up-to-the-minute themes like gay couples having kids, White Nationalists menacing anyone who isn’t like them, and how, with no national vision or oversight, states in the US can now limit human rights as they see fit.

A cast of multi-faceted characters, some of mixed Japanese and white heritage, get themselves mixed up in some harrowing situations. I don’t want to give anything away, but I’ll throw out a few highlights (or lowlights?): kidnapping, riots, and crossing borders with stolen babies. Vitello’s novel showcases the best and worst of human nature, but thankfully, the story ends on a high note.

This novel was a joy to read. I was on the edge of my seat up the final chapters, and I know the characters will stay with me for a long time.

[Kasey Frye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Sibylline Press for an eARC of Bitterroot in exchange for a honest review. Bitterroot deals with grief, abortion laws, LBGTQ+ rights, same sex marriage, racism, and many other important topics. I was initially very intrigued with the story but then bad things just kept happening…one after the other…it never stopped. Authors have to keep the reader engaged, but this book took it too far. When the book got to about the 90% mark I thought to myself that surely things were going to start resolving…not so. I found myself groaning at each new event or twist that happened. The story idea is great but the writing was not for me. I could see this book being a great limited series for tv.

[Pamela Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitterroot A Novel, is not a mystery in the traditional sense, though it does begin with a death. When Hazel McKenzie's husband Ethan is killed in a traffic accident there are at first only the usual barely-concealed "secrets" uncovered -- the animosity of in-laws, hints of unfaithfulness, perhaps even racial bigotry. It's an expected child, however, that truly reveals darker family secrets,. The result is a page-turner, a heady and dangerous combination of Trump-era politics and the complexities and pitfalls of surrogate pregnancy. Bitterroot is a satisfying, but never predictable read that had me hooked to the final page.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Gemma Whelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this novel. It kept me up at night. The plotting is superb, relentless and surprising, and the characters are so well drawn I was with them all the way. The central character, Hazel, has the unusual job of a forensic artist, which dovetails beautifully with her efforts as she delves into the past and unearths well-hidden secrets. The author very cleverly links the current political climate—the fear, the racism, and the violence—to our past history of prejudice and oppressions. Bitterroot is a really smart and beautifully written work.

[Whitney Weinberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely be in the mood for a book to be right on the nose. No escapism here.

Slapped in the face with all the terrifying stuff from white Christian nationalists with very twist and turn worse than the last. I had a hard time with this one. I should have read the synopsis and that’s on me.

It wasn’t bad writing just difficult subject matter with no respites of hope.

This world is on fire.

Thanks to netgalley and Sibylline press for an eARC

[Claudia Ermey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fully established sense of place in terms of environs and social attitudes, it was easy to slip into this quickly escalating freefall of a surrogate adoption nightmare. I loved Hazel, her spunk, her career, her poor beat-up house, her twin. Even kinda loved Corinda for all her longing. Distinctive voice for each character. Yes, I read under the covers into the wee hours. Great sex scene makes me wonder if romance might be a genre for this author to explore. Great read.

[Natalie Hirt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and honestly could not put it down. This author is a master deftly moving us along the twists and turns of this story, all while keeping the reader right alongside. I felt so many emotions throughout as Vitello touches on nearly every hot political hot topic. The characters rendered with such loving authenticity they felt like family. I didn't want the book to end.

[Conrad Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suzy’s Vitello’s novel, Bitterroot, engages the harsh realities of our times and culture: The political divides, the prejudices and dehumanization, the limits of what we think we know about people, even our loved ones. The book challenges our assumptions about small-town life and the chasm between rural and urban realities. It offers hope for individuals, if not for the future overall.

[Cherri Lock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story held my interest, but some of the twists and turns seemed a bit much. Characters made ridiculously bad decisions. Adversaries to the main characters conveniently disappeared one way or another. While I share this author’s political slant, this book will definitely anger about 50% of the population.

[Paloma Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. Finished it in an afternoon. The first half was very engrossing, the second half got a little convoluted, but there was some humor and, in the end, a poignant reflection on intergenerational trauma. I would have liked to have a bit more of the mystery of her husband fleshed out, but I still enjoyed this novel.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written, deftly engages with tough material, with characters that pop off the page. Vitello has clearly mastered her craft, and I cannot wait to read her other books!

[Heather Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out decent, but then really went nowhere. Her attempt to squeeze in so many characters only Sever to highlight how poorly they were fleshed out.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An “of the moment” mystery that kept me wondering how it was all going to work out in the end.

[Angie Burr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Suzy, so this made it all the sweeter of a read. I greatly enjoyed this book and would recommend it for summer reading.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely on the nose and has oddly cheery wrap-up, but I did enjoy it. I was just expecting it to be a bit darker.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were too many stories to follow. A bit chaotic.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pallet cleanser. I love that it was written about the PNW area.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitterroot by Suzy Vitello is a gripping and thought-provoking novel that delves into themes of family, loss, and the fight for justice in the face of adversity. Set in the picturesque yet troubled town of Steeplejack, Idaho, the story follows Hazel Mackenzie, a forensic artist grappling with the recent death of her husband and the attack on her twin brother, Kento.

Vitello's prose is both lyrical and unflinching, capturing the stark beauty of the Bitterroot Mountains while exposing the darkness that lurks beneath the surface. The characters are complex and multifaceted, each grappling with their own demons and seeking redemption. Hazel, in particular, emerges as a compelling and relatable protagonist.

While the novel tackles weighty themes, Vitello infuses the narrative with moments of humor and tenderness. Bitterroot is a timely and important novel that speaks to the current socio-political climate. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of overwhelming odds.