Today's Read: Greenwood by Michael Christie
Imagine
that you are living in the not very distant future after climate change
has come at us with full force. What would you do to calm the public
and to give hope? For Jacinda (Jake) Greenwood the choices are
complicated, especially when she begins to to unravel the history of her
family, secrets and all.
The book begins in 2038 with this prologue:
The Greenwood Arboreal Cathedral—Greenwood by Michael Christie (Hogarth, Feb. 25, p. 3, ARC)
They come for the trees.
To smell their needles. To caress their bark. To be regenerated in the humbling loom of their shadows. To stand mutely in their leafy churches and pray to their thousand-year-old souls.
From the world's dust-choked cities they venture to this exclusive arboreal resort—a remote forested island off the Pacific Rim of British Columbia—to be transformed, renewed, and reconnected. To be reminded that the Earth's once-thundering green heart has not flat-lined, that the soul of all living things has not come to dust and that it isn't too late and that all is not lost. They come here to the Greenwood Arboreal Cathedral to ingest this outrageous lie, and it's Jake Greenwood's job as Forest Guide to spoon-feed it to them.
Quick Facts
- Setting: Canada, mostly British Columbia
- Circumstances: This family saga takes us from 1908 to 2038, introducing us to a range of characters from environmental protestors to maple syrup producers, carpenters, and dendrologists. Although generations of Greenwoods love the forests, not everyone makes choices that will ultimately protect them. This book promises to offer the best of family stories: long-buried secrets, generational strife, and self-destruction. The story is told from the future to the past and then back up through time, until we're reunited with Jake, now understanding how she came to be a tour guide for eco-tourists.
- Genre & themes: family saga, literary fiction, some dystopian elements
- Gleaned from reviews: This is a don't-miss, well-constructed story to get lost in.
- Thoughts so far: I opened the book thinking I'd read a few pages to get the flavor of the writing and found myself 30+ pages in before I looked up.
- Acknowledgments: Thanks to the publisher for the review copy of Michael Christie's Greenwood.
9 comments:
What a timely subject, I’d love to read that book.
A subject for our times! I could almost smell those pine needles as I read, and I definitely want to read more. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: ‘WHEN YOU SEE ME”
I agree with the other commenters - this sounds very timely. I've been thinking about you and hope you're hanging in there.
Sounds like a very compelling read.
Sounds like a great saga! I am intrigued.
Here's my Tuesday post! Yay! It's Tuesday :)
I love that this swept you away from the opening pages. I'm adding it to my list for my own reading and to recommend to someone who loves that area of British Columbia. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Candace!
pretty cover. i love books that deal with a current event and climate change seems to fit the bill
sherry @ fundinmental
I wonder if this book would be too much of a stretch for my post-apocalyptic book club (we have a pretty broad definition).
This sounds really interesting.
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