Five From The Archive (no.15): Books about Trees

Apparently today is National Tree Day in Australia. Now, I’ve never been to Australia (or, indeed, to the Southern Hemisphere) but a post on five novels featuring trees on Brona’s Books inspired me to contribute my own. In her 5 Books series, she links to five previous reviews – which reminds me of my 5 From The Archive series that I haven’t done in maybe eight years. Let’s resurrect the badge…

I was surprised by how many books had trees in the title that weren’t really about trees – I had to disregard much-loved titles like The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp, The Path Through The Trees by Christopher Milne, The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge etc. But I found five excellent books about trees, and here’s links to my original review and something I thought about them.

1. The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono

In short: a very short, parable-style novella about a man who plants trees – transforming a wilderness into something splendid and vital.

From my review: “The Man Who Planted Trees is a beautiful book, both visually and in every other way. McCurdy’s woodcuts have such energy and really enhance Giono’s simple and elegant story.”

2. The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

In short: another case of the title doing the heavy lifting for us. A strange, oddly moving novel told by an 18th-century boy whose brother decides, in an argument, that he won’t set foot on the ground again – and keeps that promise by living in the trees.

From my review: “he reason I didn’t mind the historical fiction element of it is that Calvino doesn’t try to make it feel at all historical. The dialogue doesn’t ape the 18th-century, and there is a vitality to the novel that comes largely because it would be improbable in any time period – its setting in the past adds to the oddness, in an excellent way.”

3. The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair

In short: the tree is perhaps incidental, but it has a significance in this novel about a family dealing with the various upheavels of the 1910s, from the First World War to the women’s suffrage movement.

From my review: “It’s a really engaging, enjoyable, and moving novel. If you’ve only read Life and Death of Harriett Frean then there is a great deal more to love about Sinclair – and this one isn’t as melancholy, though it certainly isn’t a chuckle-fest!”

4. The Persimmon Tree and other stories by Marjorie Barnard

In short: beautiful short stories from one of Australia’s best-regarded writers. The tree in question only appears in one of the stories, but it is the best one IMO.

From my review: “They reminded me of Katherine Mansfield’s short stories, in the sense that they are snapshots in the minutiae of women’s lives. The most successful ones don’t try to do more than that: they look at the everyday, and see the searing emotions that are always there under the surface, sometimes conscious and sometimes not but seldom revealed to anybody else.”

5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

In short: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a lovely, moving coming-of-age novel that fits alongside other classics of the genre like I Capture the Castle and O, The Brave Music in a wonderful trio. The tree becomes a beautiful metaphor.

From my review: I didn’t actually review this one – I did it on the ‘Tea or Books?’ podcast instead, so you’ll have to click the link above to hear more!