--- description: Find out why Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'Crooked Hallelujah' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted58236f6d48c063/698a140909208ffd8441756f/best-books-2020-Crooked-Hallelujah.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 09, 2020 # Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Kelli Jo Ford’s [debut novel](https://time.com/5866239/kelli-jo-ford-crooked-hallelujah-review/ "undefined") is both epic in scale and attentive to its smallest details. The book, which unfolds as a series of stories told from different perspectives, follows four generations of Cherokee women through decades of hardship while also deftly lingering on poignant moments, showing time and again how the family perseveres against a world seemingly determined to destroy them. Ford is herself a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and her rendering of the relationship between the scrappy Reney and her mother, Justine, is particularly vivid. **Buy Now:** _Crooked Hallelujah_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780802149121 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080214912X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=080214912X&linkId=e8527bdba5d86600443a6f22d06f1449 "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904252/crooked-hallelujah/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904252/crooked-hallelujah/"},"headline":"'Crooked Hallelujah' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-09T20:07:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:44:21.602Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904252/crooked-hallelujah/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted58236f6d48c063/698a140909208ffd8441756f/best-books-2020-Crooked-Hallelujah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted58236f6d48c063/698a140909208ffd8441756f/best-books-2020-Crooked-Hallelujah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904252/crooked-hallelujah/","name":"'Crooked Hallelujah' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```