Tree Wakers

by Keith Claire

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Dave Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a young adult fantasy book from 1970 (which was when I first read it). As such it's very much in the mold of such books as Elidor, The Changes Trilogy, and well pretty much everything Alan Garner ever wrote - a mysterious people wish to regain an artifact/return to their mystical land and are aided by some ordinary English children. Where The Tree Wakers differs is in the depth of its concept. The Maborians have come to our world (specifically the very well described Kew Gardens in London) on a visit from their own world of Maboria. However I would hesitate to call it a world, since although it obviously has seasons and day and night, it is never fully described as to what Maboria actually is. It appears to exist as a massive 10,000 year loop in Time, and hence the Maborians (who appear human, apart from their habit of wearing living feathers) also inhabit this time loop and therefore are immortal, never growing old, but also never having been children (this isn't a spoiler as the Maborians explain this within the first few chapters). It is only the fact that none of them (save one) can remember more than about 70 years back that stops them being bored with their endlessly cyclical existence. The children, Alex and Brid (which I assume is short for Bridget, a good late 1960s girl's name), are fairly sketchily written, but then in a book that deals almost exclusively with the enigmatic Maborians and the thoroughly absorbing details of their existence, there is no need for them to be written in any more detail. Apart from occasional reference to the children's Uncle Frederick (who is never seen), there are hardly any scenes set outside of Kew Gardens, and with no references to double-decker buses or old money, the book is pretty much un-datable. Having said that, a story like this could probably only have come out of the imaginative creativity of the tail-end of the 1960s. I have read criticisms that the book is too fantastical, and the author seems to have made the Maborians as weird as possible rather than write a story with a bit more depth. However the Maborians themselves are fantastical, and their weirdness of their concept overwhelms absolutely everything else in the story. If you want a story to make solid logical sense, then this isn't the book for you, but if you want the umber and gold forests of Maboria and the call of the Winehorn through the meadows of Maberdy to stick in your mind for years, then pick up a copy of "The Tree Wakers". Unlike Alex and Brid, you can't actually visit Maboria, but you can visit Kew Gardens and you can read this book, which is the next best thing.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unusual and charming fantasy story set in Kew Gardens. Alex and Brid are staying with their Uncle Frederick in Kew, and they seem to be the only people who can see the Maborians, a mysterious race of people from another world, who came to Kew Gardens to explore, and now are stuck and unable to return to their own home. Alex and Brid learn, to their surpise, that they are the only people who can help the Maborians find the way back to their own world.

What makes this story such fun to read is that every place in the book is real, you can go to Kew Gardens and see all the places described in the story, and remember the unusual things that happened in them in the book. You can see the large stone kylins by the lake outside the Palm House for example, and remember that in the book they come alive and carry Alex and Brid and the Maborians around the gardens with incredible swiftness. You can look at the red pagoda and remember how Alex and Brid climbed up inside it, and what they found there.

Anyone who likes fantasy of a gentle and non-alarming nature touched with humour should enjoy this book, as should anyone who loves Kew Gardens.

[Stephen Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following a chance conversation on one of Liz Williams’ facebook threads, I picked up a copy of Keith Claire’s children’s novel The Tree Wakers, which turns out to be a strange book indeed. This is a work set in Kew Gardens, a location I had transmuted in Monica Hatherley, so I was intrigued to see what an author of a different generation had done to the place.

Written in 1970, its age shows not through its attitudes or subject matter but through its language, which, for those not used to reading older works, will seem peculiar. Here’s an example:

“Harragong sat in a shimmering whirl of peacock feathers, with her chin on her knees. She was regarding them with tremendous, enthusiastic amusement. The warm brown eyes not only met theirs, but chuckled right through them. Alex felt that even when she sat still, she was moving.”

I’m not criticising this use of language, just noting its oddness…

The narrative follows two siblings, Alex and Brid, as they encounter the time-loop travelling Maborians. The author head-hops throughout the novel so that sometimes you have to read back to see who he is referring to. These two don’t do much until the end of the book – they’re essentially observers of the Maborian dilemma and the Maborian way – until, at the conclusion, they have to use themselves to create a time-bridge back to Maboria (the Kew Maborians are accidental exiles). Images and ideas are all wonderfully original. It’s a startling book, original, and with many charms. The language and writing style are old-fashioned and take a bit of getting used to, but it is worth the effort.

[Gordon MacLellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved this book since it first came out...one of the gentlest, most beautiful poetic books I've read. I knew Kew Gardens at the time this book is set and as a 12 year old would visit it and walk through the places described in the book. Even today it evokes a sense of wonder and delight in a world half-seen and reminds me of the mysteries that we can never be quite sure are not there!