The Memory Trees

Reviewed by: Sheila Dube - Springvale Public Library, Springvale, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 21, 2018

Review

This 2017 title would have been a recommendation for the cream committee, but the deadline was missed. Wallace pulls readers into the complicated, dark past that the orchard in Vermont holds over the odd but resilient generations of women in sixteen-year-old Sorrow's family. In a desperate attempt to reconcile her lost memories to the truth surrounding her sister's death, Sorrow comes back to the orchard to spend the summer with Verity, her clinically depressed mother, and Perseverance, her mute grandmother. All the horrific stories surrounding her Lovegood ancestors and their feud with the next door Abrams family emerge as Sorrow meets the Abrams girls in town. Wallace seamlessly tells the story of each generation and the pain suffered as the modern day story of unfolds. The Lovegood family names are a standout dark touch. The black and white illustrations of the two family trees provide a necessary map to each developed generational story line. Themes of mental illness, treatment, trauma, and suicide all intertwine in this dark, suspenseful piece.

Overall Book Score: excellent