Michael Christie (1)

In 2038, Jake works on Greenwood Island in British Columbia; it’s one of the only truly livable/habitable places left with its giant trees. A biologist, Jake loves living here, though she’s not as enamoured with the job, touring around “Pilgrims” (tourists). Unfortunately, she’s also discovered a couple of trees that appear to be sick; these trees are hundreds of years old.

Her ex-fiance (a lawyer) shows up and books a private tour with her to tell her she might actually “own” the island, given her family history and the history of the island (that is, it may be part of an inheritance for her). The book continues by backing up in time through a few generations of Greenwoods to when Jake’s grandmother was a baby… and one generation earlier in 1908 when Jake’s great-grandfather was a kid (along with his brother). The brothers were very different: Everett ended up a vagrant and in jail; Harris was hugely wealthy via his lumber business, cutting down all the beautiful trees that Jake loves so much.

The bulk of the story followed Harris and Everett and that’s what I liked the best. Have to admit it took a short bit for me to get interested and to figure out what was happening and who the different characters were as we went back in time. I liked the way this one was done: we actually started in 2038, and gradually made our way to 1908 through the generations, then moved forward again back to 2038.… (mere)

I had read a lot about this book over the past couple of months, and I found the premise really interesting, so I decided to pick it up last week between books.

The story follows Will, an eleven-year-old boy who has grown up under the care of his severely agoraphobic mother and has never left his Thunder Bay home (Inside). The story started off exactly as I wanted it to: we are introduced to Will's world from his own perspective, how his mother's illness has influenced him, what he personally thinks of the world past his doorstep (Outside), and what he perceives a "normal" life to be. I was instantly hooked. Then you are introduced to his mother Diane's narration, which is an equally fascinating look at the events that led up to Diane's disorder, how she feels about her choices, and what it's like to live with crippling anxiety.

It was just after that, when the story began to change paths, that I became disappointed. The novel became less about what it was like to deal with agoraphobia and growing up in a different living environment and became more of a children's mystery novel threaded with a skateboarding theme. I found it disorienting how the sections narrated by Will reflected a book more suited to a younger audience whereas the sections narrated by Diane at times seemed to be from a separate novel intended for a more adult audience (these are the sections I enjoyed most).

Overall, I think this book is well suited for a more preteen audience. I'm just not personally interested in mysteries where young children are the heroes and "bad guys" are pretty one dimensional, where deus ex machina is used a bit too easily, and it's relatively easy to guess the twist. I think I would have absolutely enjoyed this more if I was younger; it just didn't appeal to my version of reality or what I wanted to focus on.
… (mere)

I really enjoyed this family saga, spanning over 100 years. Each of the individual stories/time periods was interesting in itself, as well as blended together masterfully. The characters were strong and believable. The only thing I didn't really like was the ending. I thought it left a key issue (the inheritance) hanging unnecessarily.

As a physical object, the book was also a delight, with the edges of the pages shaded to resemble tree bark, and the rings of a tree demonstrating the story's time line.… (mere)