The author writes with such imaginative prose and wonderful description. I was there right with Alowa feeling red mud painted on my feet, pebbles between my toes, and a spider crawling around my ankles. Beautiful imagery as we the reader try to piece together exactly what is happening in the narrative. It’s meant to be very disjointed, with only bits of concrete information offered. There is the sense of a dystopian world we assume to still be Earth as Alowa and Solstice struggle to find answers through periods of consciousness and sleep.

My favorite part was when the narrative switched over to present day in the second section and became more clear. Zinnia and her son Felix, who is being bullied, were compelling characters and we follow them backwards in time as they connect to characters in other timelines.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author. ( )

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

It’s in our dreams that we pull people towards us.

The Memory Tree has four timelines and narratives. All of them connecting to each other through memory or first nations spiritual rituals. Part one starts with Alowa not remembering anything from her past.
Look how beautiful the flames are, Alowa. Look how beautiful my naked body is, Alowa. Are you looking at my naked body? I’m dancing towards you.

The only thing she remembers is a boy’s voice in his head asking her to look at the flames and sees him. She escapes UNICorp and meets Janitor a mysterious old man who knows her. With the help of him she starts to dream and knows about Solstice, the boy she hears. It’s kind of a spiritual journey for Alowa and Solstice.
Part two is nowadays world in London. Zinnia has lost his father and her son Felix is being bullied in the school. She also fears that her husband is cheating on her. To run away from all misery she decided to have a trip to Italy to also knows more about her roots having a Jewish grandmother who herself is a daughter of a Indian. The only guide she has is a man named Max. She is trying to find him.
Part three is from view of Max. How he fell in love with Ada the Jewish girl, and how he was twisted into games of Nazis.
The final part is about ghost dance, people who have been killed and those who tried to flee. It connects all three previous parts and gives a clean ending to the book.
I found this book imaginative and liked it. It not an easy read though. Don’t get it to read it on a beach. It’s more like to be read in a quiet place absorbing it. ( )