The trees

Title:

The trees / Ali Shaw.

Personal Author:

Shaw, Ali,

Call Number:

FICTION SHAW

ISBN:

9781632862839

9781408862247

9781408862254

Physical Description:

488 pages ; 24 cm

Summary:

The trees arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest. Buildings are destroyed. Broken bodies, still wrapped in tattered bed linen, hang among the twitching leaves. Adrien Thomas has never been much of a hero. But when he realizes that no help is coming, he ventures out into this unrecognizable world. Michelle, his wife, is across the sea in Ireland and he has no way of knowing whether the trees have come for her too. Then he meets green-fingered Hannah and her teenage son Seb. Together, they set out to find Hannah's forester brother, to reunite Adrien with his wife--and to discover just how deep the forest goes. Their journey will take them to a place of terrible beauty and violence, to the dark heart of nature and the darkness inside themselves.

Subject Term:

Survival -- Fiction.

Trees -- Fiction.

Forests and forestry -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Genre:

Dystopian fiction.

Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury, 2016.

Format:

Books

First Title value, for Searching:

The trees

Holds: Copies:

Currently Available:*

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Searching... Oshtemo Branch	FICTION SHAW	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The Trees. They arrived in the night: wrenching through the ground, thundering up into the air, and turning Adrien's suburban street into a shadowy forest. Shocked by the sight but determined to get some answers, he ventures out, passing destroyed buildings, felled power lines, and broken bodies still wrapped in tattered bed linens hanging from branches.

It is soon apparent that no help is coming and that these trees, which seem the work of centuries rather than hours, span far beyond the town. As far, perhaps, as the coast, where across the sea in Ireland, Adrien's wife is away on a business trip and there is no way of knowing whether she is alive or dead.

When Adrien meets Hannah, a woman who, unlike him, believes that the coming of the trees may signal renewal rather than destruction and Seb, her technology-obsessed son, they persuade him to join them. Together, they pack up what remains of the lives they once had and set out on a quest to find Hannah's forester brother and Adrien's wife--and to discover just how deep the forest goes.

Their journey through the trees will take them into unimaginable territory: to a place of terrible beauty and violence, of deadly enemies and unexpected allies, to the dark heart of nature and the darkness--and also the power--inside themselves.

Author Notes

Ali Shaw is the author of The Girl with Glass Feet , winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize, and The Man Who Rained . He has worked as a bookseller and at the Bodleian Library. He now lives in Oxford, England, with his wife and daughter.
@Ali_Shaw alishaw.co.uk

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In Shaw's (The Girl with Glass Feet) atmospheric modern fairy tale, Adrien Thomas prefers to sit on the sidelines and watch life go by until trees begin suddenly pushing up from the ground. Adrien walks outside to find England in ruins; the trees have killed numerous people (usually impaling them on their branches) and completely destroyed civilization's infrastructure. When he meets Hannah and her teen son, Seb, they set out to find her brother, Zach, a park ranger, and if possible, get to Ireland to find Adrien's wife, Michelle, who is on a business trip. Along the way they meet Inoue Hiroko, a girl who proves handy with a slingshot; meanwhile, Adrien repeatedly glimpses tiny creatures constructed of forest detritus. Shaw offers a postapocalyptic world where the woods reign, described in lush, evocative prose, and characters that shine. During the journey, Adrien finds within himself a courage that he never thought possible, and Hannah begins to see nature in an entirely different way. It's a coming-of-age for Seb, and a chance to bond with his mother, while the enigmatic Hiroko battles her own demons. This stunning exploration of love, hope, and the wildness inside us all will have readers enchanted from the first page. Agent: Susan Armstrong, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

On the night Nature decides it's had enough, Adrien Thomas is nearly skewered in his bed by trees sprouting up through his house. All over the world, trees are killing millions and destroying everything standing in their way. Survivors like Hannah have the skills to navigate the new world. She plans to take her son, Sebastian, and hike out to her forester brother's home to start new lives. They invite Adrien along after he mentions that his wife, Michelle, is in Ireland, assuming he will attempt to locate her and will be traveling in the same direction. Now he must find the courage, heart, and fortitude for this quest. Nature isn't finished with humanity either. It's searching for something or someone, and Adrien is one who will be tested. VERDICT Shaw (The Girl with Glass Feet) has written an exciting apocalyptic novel that blends in elements of magic realism. Gripping and occasionally brutal, this survival story highlights both the best and worst in humanity.-Karin Thogersen, Huntley Area P.L., IL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.