Paperback, 400 pages
Published September 8th 2020 by Tyndale House Publishers
Michelle Shocklee Author
My Review
I can absolutely say without a doubt this is one of the best books I've read this year.
The author pens a fictionalized story based upon true events.
Under The Tulip Tree takes place when the stock market crashes and along with this crash so does sixteen year old Lorena Leland's dreams of becoming a writer.
Seven years into the Great Depression Rena's father has taken to the bottle and she is an unemployed newspaper reporter.
"In 1935 President Roosevelt established the Federal Writer's Project as part of the Works Progress Administration,a New Deal program that put out-of-work writers,librarians,teachers,and others to work."
Rena jumps at the chance to do this writing narratives of those enslaved prior to the civil war.
One of the people she interviews is an elderly lady named Frankie,enslaved as a young child in Tennessee by the Hall family many years ago.
Hearing Frankie's story as she recalls her life growing up,her devastating injury and the civil war playing out and her true love being seriously injured. This time slip goes back and forth in time between the nineteen thirties and civil war times as Frankie recounts her life and the inequality of how she is treated . Despite the mental and physical abuse she has endured as a slave Frankie has a pure heart and as we are told to do she forgives those who have wronged her. Non forgivers just hold bitterness and have hardened hearts. Frankie is not like this. Frankie was so happy to have a way to tell her life's story , she has a voice that needs to heard and it will not be quieted.
When Rena discovers a connection she has with Frankie she is shocked,ashamed and afraid of how Frankie will react but knows she must tell her what she finds out
because it is the right thing to do.
This book is heartbreaking and heart warming at the same time. The inequality of treatment towards people just because of the color of their skin is heartbreaking and
it still goes on today.
Under The Tulip is on my list of one of the best books I have ever read!
Pub Date 08 Sep 2020
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
Amazon Buy Link
GoodReads Summary
Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland's dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena's banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers' Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.
As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured--especially because Rena's ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie's story challenges Rena's preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?
The Author
Website
Genre
Influences
Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. As a woman of mixed heritage--her father's family is Hispanic and her mother's roots go back to Germany--she has always celebrated diversity and feels it's important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction. Her NEW time-slip novel, UNDER THE TULIP TREE, set in 1930s & 1860s Nashville, is a story of unlikely friendship, reconciliation, and forgiveness. It is based on the Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives of 1936. After reading over 100 slave narratives, Michelle wanted to tell THAT story. The story of an FWP writer interviewing a former slave, hearing her story firsthand, and what the FWP writer learns through this experience. Many of the scenes in UNDER THE TULIP TREE are taken directly from the slave narratives themselves. Click the "Influences" link in my profile to read more about why the theme of forgiveness is important, even in fiction. THE PLANTER'S DAUGHTER and THE WIDOW OF ROSE HILL, are historical sagas about redemption and righting past wrongs. Set on a Texas cotton plantation in the 1800s, you'll journey through the pages with flawed characters who ultimately find grace while coming face-to-face with the evils of slavery. No character is left unchanged by the end of each book. Readers say they can't put these books down! With both her sons grown, she and her husband now make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about in her new book.
コメント