Harry's Trees
You know that feeling you get when a book ends and you want nothing more than to crawl back into those pages and stay awhile?
My heart wasn’t ready to leave this one.
Not since reading Glendy Vanderah’s Where the Forest Meets the Stars have I felt more invested in a trio of characters' efforts to help and heal one another. Both stories were beautifully told and had that thread of magical realism that I love, immersed in a gorgeous forest atmosphere. It’s a story of grief and healing, but with its healthy sprinkling of fairy dust wrapped in Jon Cohen’s warm and witty humor, it keeps the story from ever feeling heavy or morose. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Josh Bloomberg while reading along, and his superb voice work took me straight to that forest and planted me amongst these wonderful characters.
To summarize (you can skip the next three paragraphs if you want to go into this blind):
Harry Crane, a 34-year-old U.S. Forest Service analyst with a deep love for both trees and his wife Beth, suddenly finds himself widowed after a freak accident he blames himself for not avoiding. Quitting his job and fleeing to the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania on the heels of receiving a windfall legal settlement his older alpha-male brother, Wolf, bullied him into pursuing, he’s intent on righting his perceived wrongs his own way.
Enter Amanda Jeffers, a kind but pragmatic, no-nonsense ER nurse and fellow recent widow who, in another twist of fate, discovers Harry wounded on her forest property. With her is her nine-year-old daughter, Oriana, an extremely bright child, who’s doggedly determined to believe her late father, Dean, still exists in the form of a wingèd (her word) creature, much to Amanda’s chagrin. Amanda offers to let Harry stay in the habitable tree house on her property in the hopes that Oriana seeing a male figure accept the reality of his loss will spur her to embrace her own.
Central to the book is a fascinating fairy tale within, called The Grum’s Ledger, which delightful octogenarian librarian Olive Perkins gives to Oriana to borrow. In this tale, Oriana is convinced she’s found the path that Harry needs to take to heal and move on from his late wife, and Harry is convinced will help Oriana accept her dad’s death. Theirs is really a sweet relationship to watch grow. Their ensuing adventure birthed by The Grum’s Ledger is fun and magical, with moments of tension, as some characters have other plans for Harry’s fortune.
I loved the journey Harry, Amanda and Oriana took together, as each learned to trust and open their hearts to the other, like the blossoming leaves on Harry’s beloved trees. The secondary characters like the ever-menacing Wolf, spunky Olive, Dean’s hapless but good-hearted friend Ronnie, the various men humorously and pathetically vying for Amanda’s attention, and even a lovable Rottweiler named Brutus, all added depth to this already rich story. Cohen’s humor struck just the right tone for the subject material and had me laughing and smiling throughout, and his use of fairy tale imagery added to the magic. It’s a beautiful, heartwarming story and I loved every single moment of it!! This will definitely be on my year-end favorites and will stay rooted in my heart for a long time.
This gets 5 well-deserved stars, but what I REALLY want to give it is:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
My heart wasn’t ready to leave this one.
Not since reading Glendy Vanderah’s Where the Forest Meets the Stars have I felt more invested in a trio of characters' efforts to help and heal one another. Both stories were beautifully told and had that thread of magical realism that I love, immersed in a gorgeous forest atmosphere. It’s a story of grief and healing, but with its healthy sprinkling of fairy dust wrapped in Jon Cohen’s warm and witty humor, it keeps the story from ever feeling heavy or morose. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Josh Bloomberg while reading along, and his superb voice work took me straight to that forest and planted me amongst these wonderful characters.
To summarize (you can skip the next three paragraphs if you want to go into this blind):
Harry Crane, a 34-year-old U.S. Forest Service analyst with a deep love for both trees and his wife Beth, suddenly finds himself widowed after a freak accident he blames himself for not avoiding. Quitting his job and fleeing to the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania on the heels of receiving a windfall legal settlement his older alpha-male brother, Wolf, bullied him into pursuing, he’s intent on righting his perceived wrongs his own way.
Enter Amanda Jeffers, a kind but pragmatic, no-nonsense ER nurse and fellow recent widow who, in another twist of fate, discovers Harry wounded on her forest property. With her is her nine-year-old daughter, Oriana, an extremely bright child, who’s doggedly determined to believe her late father, Dean, still exists in the form of a wingèd (her word) creature, much to Amanda’s chagrin. Amanda offers to let Harry stay in the habitable tree house on her property in the hopes that Oriana seeing a male figure accept the reality of his loss will spur her to embrace her own.
Central to the book is a fascinating fairy tale within, called The Grum’s Ledger, which delightful octogenarian librarian Olive Perkins gives to Oriana to borrow. In this tale, Oriana is convinced she’s found the path that Harry needs to take to heal and move on from his late wife, and Harry is convinced will help Oriana accept her dad’s death. Theirs is really a sweet relationship to watch grow. Their ensuing adventure birthed by The Grum’s Ledger is fun and magical, with moments of tension, as some characters have other plans for Harry’s fortune.
I loved the journey Harry, Amanda and Oriana took together, as each learned to trust and open their hearts to the other, like the blossoming leaves on Harry’s beloved trees. The secondary characters like the ever-menacing Wolf, spunky Olive, Dean’s hapless but good-hearted friend Ronnie, the various men humorously and pathetically vying for Amanda’s attention, and even a lovable Rottweiler named Brutus, all added depth to this already rich story. Cohen’s humor struck just the right tone for the subject material and had me laughing and smiling throughout, and his use of fairy tale imagery added to the magic. It’s a beautiful, heartwarming story and I loved every single moment of it!! This will definitely be on my year-end favorites and will stay rooted in my heart for a long time.
This gets 5 well-deserved stars, but what I REALLY want to give it is:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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