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Thorn Tree
"Terrifically vivid...Remarkable." --The New York Times Book Review: A beautifully wrought novel on the aftershocks of the heady but dangerous late 1960s and the relationship between trauma and the creative impulse.
Now in his late-sixties, Daniel lives in quiet anonymity in a converted guest cottage in the Hollywood Hills. A legendary artist, he’s known for one seminal work—Thorn Tree—a hulking, welded, scrap metal sculpture that he built in the Mojave desert in the 1970s. The work emerged from tragedy, but building it kept Daniel alive and catapulted him to brief, reluctant fame in the art world.
Daniel is neighbors with Celia, a charismatic but fragile actress. She too experienced youthful fame, hers in a popular television series, but saw her life nearly collapse after a series of bad decisions. Now, a new movie with a notorious director might reignite her career.
A single mother, Celia leaves her young son Dean for weeks at a time with her father, Jack, who stays at her house while she’s on location. Jack and Daniel strike up a tentative friendship as Dean takes to visiting Daniel’s cottage--but something about Jack seems off. Discomfiting, strangely intimate, with flashes of anger balanced by an almost philosophical bent, Jack is not the harmless grandparent he pretends to be.
Weaving the idealism and the darkness of the late 1960s, the glossy surfaces of Los Angeles celebrity today, and thrumming with the sound of the Grateful Dead, the mania of Charles Manson and other cults, and the secrets that both Jack and Daniel have harbored for fifty years, Thorn Tree is an utterly-compelling novel.
Now in his late-sixties, Daniel lives in quiet anonymity in a converted guest cottage in the Hollywood Hills. A legendary artist, he’s known for one seminal work—Thorn Tree—a hulking, welded, scrap metal sculpture that he built in the Mojave desert in the 1970s. The work emerged from tragedy, but building it kept Daniel alive and catapulted him to brief, reluctant fame in the art world.
Daniel is neighbors with Celia, a charismatic but fragile actress. She too experienced youthful fame, hers in a popular television series, but saw her life nearly collapse after a series of bad decisions. Now, a new movie with a notorious director might reignite her career.
A single mother, Celia leaves her young son Dean for weeks at a time with her father, Jack, who stays at her house while she’s on location. Jack and Daniel strike up a tentative friendship as Dean takes to visiting Daniel’s cottage--but something about Jack seems off. Discomfiting, strangely intimate, with flashes of anger balanced by an almost philosophical bent, Jack is not the harmless grandparent he pretends to be.
Weaving the idealism and the darkness of the late 1960s, the glossy surfaces of Los Angeles celebrity today, and thrumming with the sound of the Grateful Dead, the mania of Charles Manson and other cults, and the secrets that both Jack and Daniel have harbored for fifty years, Thorn Tree is an utterly-compelling novel.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2024
29 people are currently reading
7294 people want to read
About the author
Max Ludington
4 books40 followersMax Ludington is the author of two novels, Thorn Tree, and Tiger in a Trance. His fiction has appeared in Tin House, Nerve, Meridian, H.O.W. Journal, and On the Rocks: the KGB Bar Fiction Anthology. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches writing at Pratt Institute.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
November 7, 2024
At the base level it’s fear. It’s all about fear. People ask, ‘What are you afraid of?’ and that is not an answerable question. Any time I name a source for my fear I feel it as a deflection. I mean, sure, I can get close. You know, as in: I’m afraid of people because someone I trusted fucked with me when I was a child. I was traumatized, yes, and the fear probably began there, I guess. But I don’t really know because it seems, now, somehow elemental. It embodies some ancient, sleeping doom, and the only escape is self-destruction. You know? Like, if I become my own doom I’ve taken that power away from anything else. It’s preemptive. At least there’s agency in it.”--------------------------------------
She felt the laughter spill out of her in a rush. Its piercing volume was at odds with the moment and the release it brought. Leo looked at her dumbfounded.
“Get the fuck out of my head, man,” Celia said.
He had merely done what men had been doing since the primeval birth of jealousy. Just a spoon of love from my forty-five, save you from another man. Howlin’ Wolf was just singing about what thousands had wished they could do, and probably had done, before there were cops and laws and all the rest of the arbitrary bullshit. And it had felt good, hadn’t it?Daniel is 68, living a quiet life in a Hollywood Hills guest house when a visitor repeatedly appears. Dean is six years old and clearly in need of companionship. He lives with his grandfather, Jack, on the larger house on the property. Jack is not always particularly attentive. And Mom, Celia, is a rising young actress who is often away on prolonged shoots. Daniel is happy for the company.
Max Ludington - image from Macmillan - shot by Jennifer Silverman
The novel braids the stories of Jack, Daniel and Celia, mostly Jack and Daniel. The story takes place in multiple times, today being 2017, and the backstory stepping up from 1968 to the seventies, to 1980, and 1988. Celia is not a part of the earlier events.
The sixties events cast a light on a turbulent time, touching on many of the aspects one might expect, young love, drug-dealing, acid trips, communes, San Francisco, wth a very dodgy cult among them. But despite the surface level, there is also consideration of the sort of existential, philosophical searching that was, for many, an important part of those times.
Young Daniel (1960s) makes a youthful mistake and suffers a grievous wrong, which follows him all his life. In the 1970s he finds solace in the desert, constructing a significant work of art, the Thorn Tree of the title. It gets him some notice, gives him a way to express what is inside him, and leads to some stability in his life.
Celia did an image search for the sculpture, and there it was, standing next to the modern art museum, taller than the building itself. It was huge, with thick, meandering branches and bristling snakelike twigs. Most of the branches, while not attempting verisimilitude, were formed with inherently natural shapes and gnarled twists, but here and there some were deliberately hewn into shapes that could never have occurred in nature: curving double on themselves and then back again to form tight willowy S-shapes, or turning straight downward at acute angles for a foot or two before continuing up and outward, as if infused genetically with lightning.Jack is a very different sort. A predator, a sociopath or something like it, Jack wants what he wants and is not much concerned about who he damages to get it. He is routinely unkind, and worse, but he is also a seeker of truth, becoming connected with a cult and seriously mulling the writings on which the cult bases its outlook, even if the tenets of that group serve to bolster his own self-justification.
Daniel and Jack are linked through these years, the source of that link being one of the mysteries of the book. Jack is definitely a dark force. Daniel exists on a brighter side, despite having made some bad choices. He is a character who grows. But while Jack grows in a way, his widened view of reality is ultimately redirected to his narcissism. Not much is really done with Celia.
There is some lyrical writing which gives the story texture, depth to the two main characters, which makes it engaging, and a look at the times, both 60s and 70s, which gives it some substance. In addition it considers repercussions throughout one’s lives of actions taken in our youth.
Daniel stood for a moment at the threshold of the branches and looked up. The wind was made louder here in contact with the tree. The gravel path went around the south side, and he followed it to where it ended at an overlook. There was a plaque on a post, but he didn’t read it. Instead of standing at the overlook and staring out to sea, as the landscape designer had intended, he turned and went in under the branches, and immediately the world of the tree took over. He was surprised—he’d thought his memory of it was hopelessly colored by LSD and shock and time, that he had probably falsely mythologized every aspect of it and it would be just a place, with soil and roots and air but not the indwelling spirit he’d imbued it with in his mind. But it was as it had been—the wind quieting and the light clarifying, damping the sun into deep greenness—inhabited by a sense of protection and safety unchanged by the years of foot traffic and human attention.There are many more of this sort. The voice is omniscient narrator, which presents way too many opportunities to tell rather than show. But I doubt this will bother most readers. Some characters come and go, seeming to be throw-aways. It is one of the things that make the book feel over-long. I kept hoping that some of these might be given a deeper look, with Jack getting less.
The alternating timelines, a fairly typical literary device, made sense to me. The Grateful Dead offer a link between now and then. There seemed some interest in other literary devices. For example, a boy appears to have a magical relationship with birds, but the image drops after partial usage.
Thorn Tree is an interesting read, offering some substance, interesting characters, and a strong core mystery. But for a book that is not overlong, at about four hundred pages, it felt like a much longer read because of the excess attention paid to Jack, and some tangential tales. The descriptive writing (I am a sucker for that) gives one a reason to push through, however prickly the passage.
Review posted - 11/01/24
Publication date – 4/15/24
I received an ARE of Thorn Tree from St. Martin’s Press in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.
This review will soon be cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to Ludington’s personal, Goodreads, and Twitter pages
Profile – from Macmillan
MAX LUDINGTON's first novel, Tiger in a Trance, was a New York Times Notable book, and his fiction has appeared in Tin House, Meridian, HOW Journal, Outerbridge, and On the Rocks: the KGB Bar Fiction Reader. He lives in Brooklyn, New York and teaches in the writing department at Pratt Institute.Interview
-----The Palisades Newsletter - Max Ludington Reflects on His Second Novel, THORN TREE
Song
-----The Doors - Five To One
-----The Grateful Dead - The Very Best of the Grateful Dead
April 17, 2024
“Thorn Tree” by Max Ludington captures many wild elements of the sixties, with reverberations still echoing in its characters today. We have colorful acid trips, communes, cults, even the Grateful Dead are here– and set against this psychedelic backdrop we have the trauma of a young girl’s death.
Currently we find Daniel, a once-famous artist who never recovered from the trauma of his girlfriend, Rachel’s death and the prison time he served for his role in that. We are served up his back-story, filled in by numerous jumps back in time. Just out of prison, he stumbles onto a remote bunkhouse and barn in the Mojave Desert, where he throws himself into constructing a huge tree sculpture of metal, the Thorn Tree. Never intending for anyone to see this art, it expresses the devastation he feels for the night he lost Rachel. Eventually people flock to this piece, drawn by an unwelcome article in the L.A. Weekly. Notoriety arrives– peace does not.
Another major player in this book is Celia Dressler, a struggling actress who has been through rehab and is seeing her career back on the upswing. Often away filming on location, she lives just up the hill from Daniel and only takes an interest in him when she finds her six-year-old son, Dean, has been inviting himself over to this stranger’s house when not being supervised by her father.
Celia’s father, Jack, is the wildcard here. For some inexplicable reason he wants to be Daniel’s best buddy and his tormentor. While we are taken with the histories of both Daniel and Celia, the more we find out about Jack, the more repulsed we are.
Unfortunately, too many different characters are introduced, particularly toward the final portion of the book. A whole cult sub-plot expands and some of the major people drift away for too long. It is reminiscent of the part of a DVD where the director explains why certain scenes and performances were cut, just slowing things down or not being able to be fully realized within the confines of the plot.
The major characters were riveting. Daniel’s complicated story was intriguing. Celia’s romantic relationship with her driver brought out some honest conversations exposing intense emotions. Even the devil, Jack, uncovered a surprisingly tender side with the love of his grandson. There seemed to be too many loose ends, however, and I felt the book’s momentum was lost by the swollen final direction taken.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Currently we find Daniel, a once-famous artist who never recovered from the trauma of his girlfriend, Rachel’s death and the prison time he served for his role in that. We are served up his back-story, filled in by numerous jumps back in time. Just out of prison, he stumbles onto a remote bunkhouse and barn in the Mojave Desert, where he throws himself into constructing a huge tree sculpture of metal, the Thorn Tree. Never intending for anyone to see this art, it expresses the devastation he feels for the night he lost Rachel. Eventually people flock to this piece, drawn by an unwelcome article in the L.A. Weekly. Notoriety arrives– peace does not.
Another major player in this book is Celia Dressler, a struggling actress who has been through rehab and is seeing her career back on the upswing. Often away filming on location, she lives just up the hill from Daniel and only takes an interest in him when she finds her six-year-old son, Dean, has been inviting himself over to this stranger’s house when not being supervised by her father.
Celia’s father, Jack, is the wildcard here. For some inexplicable reason he wants to be Daniel’s best buddy and his tormentor. While we are taken with the histories of both Daniel and Celia, the more we find out about Jack, the more repulsed we are.
Unfortunately, too many different characters are introduced, particularly toward the final portion of the book. A whole cult sub-plot expands and some of the major people drift away for too long. It is reminiscent of the part of a DVD where the director explains why certain scenes and performances were cut, just slowing things down or not being able to be fully realized within the confines of the plot.
The major characters were riveting. Daniel’s complicated story was intriguing. Celia’s romantic relationship with her driver brought out some honest conversations exposing intense emotions. Even the devil, Jack, uncovered a surprisingly tender side with the love of his grandson. There seemed to be too many loose ends, however, and I felt the book’s momentum was lost by the swollen final direction taken.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 10, 2023
Thorn Tree
Max Ludington
If the word “foreboding” was described by a single book, this would be the book! There is a dark ominous vibe from start to finish that kinda creeped me out but also sparked my curiosity. Usually I would call that suspense, but this was more like a muggy fug of impending doom that you are running towards in slow motion.
So that actually sounds like a nightmare and yeah, it does have a bit of that dissociative mindbending feel, especially when the author starts describing some of the weird theories a group of his characters embrace (more to come on that in a minute!). But it’s also a masterful building of tension that happens throughout the read that kept me flipping those pages fascinated by how this wild ride could possibly finish. Ludington’s writing style definitely engaged me and I didn’t want to put it down.
We meet Daniel in current day California and the timeline jumps back and forth between his past, starting in the no holds barred 60s, and his present reality. In the present, he is a man who has lived his life in the wake of a tragic incident which is a story that slowly unfolds for us with forays back into time. This incident has infiltrated all his relationships and life choices in the following years, turning him from a boy with life at his feet to an old man with a suitcase full of regrets. But there are things he also doesn’t know, missing facts that could have and maybe still will change everything. The structure of the story is anything but straightforward but it’s a puzzle I enjoyed figuring out.
One of Ludington strengths in this book is how he creates powerful and very realistic characters, full of flaws and relatable emotions. Their storylines, like Celia and Dean who the story opens with, develop extensively and exist almost independently of Daniel’s. Yet oddly his is the only story that has a beginning, middle and end. By the end, everyone else feels unresolved and relegated to the periphery like they didn’t matter so much, even though Ludington detailed their lives and thoughts with vivid contour from the start. I was highly annoyed to not get full stories about each and every person. Like, excuse me, sir, but don’t make me get involved with your characters and then leave me hanging! It’s an open-ended treatment that maybe could be said to create mystery and drama but for me felt unsatisfying.
But back to the foreboding part, the subject matter is part of what gives this book such a weird vibe. The other major character, Jack has some strange experiences with a cult and there are often extensive breakdowns of the cult’s mystic beliefs and supernatural philosophies. Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like just the cult’s view but perhaps the author’s and you start to wonder if maybe the villain has a valid point despite some of his more questionable choices. It takes a skilled writer to make a villain still somehow relatable. Ludington definitely played with my mind a little bit here!
All said and done, this book won’t be a cookie cutter read and will stimulate your brain cells, which is always intriguing. It kept me thinking beyond the pages and I value that in a book! You probably won’t put this one down with the elation that comes with a nice tidy ending and a storybook high but I think you’ll find it worth the read!
*I was graciously provided an ARC to review by St Martin’s press in exchange for my honest opinion.
Max Ludington
If the word “foreboding” was described by a single book, this would be the book! There is a dark ominous vibe from start to finish that kinda creeped me out but also sparked my curiosity. Usually I would call that suspense, but this was more like a muggy fug of impending doom that you are running towards in slow motion.
So that actually sounds like a nightmare and yeah, it does have a bit of that dissociative mindbending feel, especially when the author starts describing some of the weird theories a group of his characters embrace (more to come on that in a minute!). But it’s also a masterful building of tension that happens throughout the read that kept me flipping those pages fascinated by how this wild ride could possibly finish. Ludington’s writing style definitely engaged me and I didn’t want to put it down.
We meet Daniel in current day California and the timeline jumps back and forth between his past, starting in the no holds barred 60s, and his present reality. In the present, he is a man who has lived his life in the wake of a tragic incident which is a story that slowly unfolds for us with forays back into time. This incident has infiltrated all his relationships and life choices in the following years, turning him from a boy with life at his feet to an old man with a suitcase full of regrets. But there are things he also doesn’t know, missing facts that could have and maybe still will change everything. The structure of the story is anything but straightforward but it’s a puzzle I enjoyed figuring out.
One of Ludington strengths in this book is how he creates powerful and very realistic characters, full of flaws and relatable emotions. Their storylines, like Celia and Dean who the story opens with, develop extensively and exist almost independently of Daniel’s. Yet oddly his is the only story that has a beginning, middle and end. By the end, everyone else feels unresolved and relegated to the periphery like they didn’t matter so much, even though Ludington detailed their lives and thoughts with vivid contour from the start. I was highly annoyed to not get full stories about each and every person. Like, excuse me, sir, but don’t make me get involved with your characters and then leave me hanging! It’s an open-ended treatment that maybe could be said to create mystery and drama but for me felt unsatisfying.
But back to the foreboding part, the subject matter is part of what gives this book such a weird vibe. The other major character, Jack has some strange experiences with a cult and there are often extensive breakdowns of the cult’s mystic beliefs and supernatural philosophies. Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like just the cult’s view but perhaps the author’s and you start to wonder if maybe the villain has a valid point despite some of his more questionable choices. It takes a skilled writer to make a villain still somehow relatable. Ludington definitely played with my mind a little bit here!
All said and done, this book won’t be a cookie cutter read and will stimulate your brain cells, which is always intriguing. It kept me thinking beyond the pages and I value that in a book! You probably won’t put this one down with the elation that comes with a nice tidy ending and a storybook high but I think you’ll find it worth the read!
*I was graciously provided an ARC to review by St Martin’s press in exchange for my honest opinion.
June 29, 2024
Thank you to the author Max Ludington, publishers St Martin'sPress, and SMPInfluencers, for an advance paperback copy of THORN TREE. Thank you also to NetGalley for an accomanying widget. All views are mine.
The moment rose undiminished from blurred obscurity, as if preserved in amber, though nothing on either side of it was clear enough to pin down, and rather than push it away, Daniel inhaled it, his lungs trembling. It was starting to get cold. p344
I feel surprised to say that THORN TREE was a disappointing read for me. Often, I am a fan of an experimental timeline, like we find here. But I found it it to be such a hindrance here to the plot's development that I didn't appreciate it. Not only that, the challenging timeline made it hard for me to follow the narrative. I was never quite sure what was happening or what might be coming next.
Make no mistake, this writing is gorgeous. If style is your thing, you will definitely love this book. Recommended for fans of John Fowles and/or THE COLLECTOR; experimental/alternative timelines; literary fiction and contemporary fiction.
"Not everyone’s got the same kind of white-bread love, son. What do you think Howlin’ Wolf meant when he sang Just a spoon of love from my forty-five, save you from another man? What about Down by the river I shot my baby? Or, Hey Joe?” p371
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love the subtlety. Everything is described and told in details. It's such wonderful writing!
2. What a wonderful unreliable narrator we have in Celia. This always makes for a wild story! Of course nobody actually acted like they hated her, but you couldn't trust people to act the way they felt. p9
3. Love the character work, like really. This is really entertaining writing! Says an unreliable narrator about another character: He'd walked around for so long carrying his astringent magnetism that he'd relaxed into it. He serenely ignore those who were attracted to him, which was most people... [even] those who resented him usually tossed their resentment aside when he bestowed his treasured attention on them. ...It was hard to imagine him ever being actually impressed with anyone. p11
4. Some great meta on p65: “He’s got a lot of ideas. I’ve talked to him quite a bit, but his movie doesn’t do it for me. It’s very detailed, but somehow manages to be vague also. Something to do with learning to manage your future reincarnations...."
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. The shifts in time frame appear to be arbitrary. They don't even switch POV with any regularity. And when POV is maintained during a time-shift, there is often no topical transition to speak of. It's a mealy mess.
2. The experimental timeline seems experimental for experiment's sake. Which is kind of annoying. I think everything could have been presented with more clarity if it had been written chronologically, or at least within on timeline, plus utilizing well-written flashbacks.
Rating: 🌵🌵.5 /5 thorn trees
Recommend? maybe
Finished: Jun 22 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley; hardback, SMPI
Read this book if you like:
👻 murder mysteries
👨👩👧👦 multiple POVs
👤 character driven story
⏳️ alternative timeline
The moment rose undiminished from blurred obscurity, as if preserved in amber, though nothing on either side of it was clear enough to pin down, and rather than push it away, Daniel inhaled it, his lungs trembling. It was starting to get cold. p344
I feel surprised to say that THORN TREE was a disappointing read for me. Often, I am a fan of an experimental timeline, like we find here. But I found it it to be such a hindrance here to the plot's development that I didn't appreciate it. Not only that, the challenging timeline made it hard for me to follow the narrative. I was never quite sure what was happening or what might be coming next.
Make no mistake, this writing is gorgeous. If style is your thing, you will definitely love this book. Recommended for fans of John Fowles and/or THE COLLECTOR; experimental/alternative timelines; literary fiction and contemporary fiction.
"Not everyone’s got the same kind of white-bread love, son. What do you think Howlin’ Wolf meant when he sang Just a spoon of love from my forty-five, save you from another man? What about Down by the river I shot my baby? Or, Hey Joe?” p371
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love the subtlety. Everything is described and told in details. It's such wonderful writing!
2. What a wonderful unreliable narrator we have in Celia. This always makes for a wild story! Of course nobody actually acted like they hated her, but you couldn't trust people to act the way they felt. p9
3. Love the character work, like really. This is really entertaining writing! Says an unreliable narrator about another character: He'd walked around for so long carrying his astringent magnetism that he'd relaxed into it. He serenely ignore those who were attracted to him, which was most people... [even] those who resented him usually tossed their resentment aside when he bestowed his treasured attention on them. ...It was hard to imagine him ever being actually impressed with anyone. p11
4. Some great meta on p65: “He’s got a lot of ideas. I’ve talked to him quite a bit, but his movie doesn’t do it for me. It’s very detailed, but somehow manages to be vague also. Something to do with learning to manage your future reincarnations...."
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. The shifts in time frame appear to be arbitrary. They don't even switch POV with any regularity. And when POV is maintained during a time-shift, there is often no topical transition to speak of. It's a mealy mess.
2. The experimental timeline seems experimental for experiment's sake. Which is kind of annoying. I think everything could have been presented with more clarity if it had been written chronologically, or at least within on timeline, plus utilizing well-written flashbacks.
Rating: 🌵🌵.5 /5 thorn trees
Recommend? maybe
Finished: Jun 22 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley; hardback, SMPI
Read this book if you like:
👻 murder mysteries
👨👩👧👦 multiple POVs
👤 character driven story
⏳️ alternative timeline
March 8, 2024
I really dread giving a 3-star rating. I know the author and publishing company have all worked very hard to get a novel to the review stage. But we’re supposed to be honest, so here goes.
I tried so hard to get into this novel. It has all the required points: interesting characters, a plot that goes back years, and a beautiful landscape for the stage. But I kept losing the string we’re supposed to pull ourselves along with; the thought, the main backbone, the deepening plot. I feel sure this is unique with me and others will enjoy the story, so please give it a try. I am sorry, but I just couldn’t get there.
Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is April 16, 2024.
I tried so hard to get into this novel. It has all the required points: interesting characters, a plot that goes back years, and a beautiful landscape for the stage. But I kept losing the string we’re supposed to pull ourselves along with; the thought, the main backbone, the deepening plot. I feel sure this is unique with me and others will enjoy the story, so please give it a try. I am sorry, but I just couldn’t get there.
Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is April 16, 2024.
January 19, 2024
Rounded up from 2.5 stars.
Why did "Thorn Tree" disappoint and even anger me so?
1) The descriptions of the characters' thoughts reminded me of technical writing: every detail spelled out, in language much more elevated than it needed to be. This is a book that uses "gravid" instead of "pregnant." Characters of very different backgrounds and education levels have their thoughts and feelings parsed in the same manner, with the exception of the seven-year-old boy.
2) Nobody speaks the way these characters do. So many philosophical debates. So much naval-gazing.
3) The female character who is at the heart of the characters' motivation is not just a tabula rasa but also an impossible creation, a paragon of femaleness that every man who gazes upon her cannot help but treasure.
4) Characters are introduced with abandon, for what seems to be little reason.
Some of the writing was lovely and evocative, and the depiction of the young boy spot-on. But overall, finishing this was a chore. Maybe I'm just not the book's target audience.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Why did "Thorn Tree" disappoint and even anger me so?
1) The descriptions of the characters' thoughts reminded me of technical writing: every detail spelled out, in language much more elevated than it needed to be. This is a book that uses "gravid" instead of "pregnant." Characters of very different backgrounds and education levels have their thoughts and feelings parsed in the same manner, with the exception of the seven-year-old boy.
2) Nobody speaks the way these characters do. So many philosophical debates. So much naval-gazing.
3) The female character who is at the heart of the characters' motivation is not just a tabula rasa but also an impossible creation, a paragon of femaleness that every man who gazes upon her cannot help but treasure.
4) Characters are introduced with abandon, for what seems to be little reason.
Some of the writing was lovely and evocative, and the depiction of the young boy spot-on. But overall, finishing this was a chore. Maybe I'm just not the book's target audience.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 9, 2024
4.5 stars
Daniel Tunison, a reclusive artist now in his late sixties, lives in a quietly appointed former guest cottage in Hollywood Hills. Known for one briefly monumental and massive sculpture, Thorn Tree, that he constructed from scrap metal in the Mojave desert in the 1970s, Daniel is haunted by past tragedy and a lifetime of mistakes made along the way.
Daniel's neighbor is Celia Dressler, a fragile actress hoping for a career resurgence following her own series of personal setbacks. While Celia is away filming a movie, she entrusts the care of her young son, Dean, to her enigmatic father, Jack, who has been living with them. As Dean befriends Daniel, Jack's increasingly unsettling presence leaves Daniel feeling hesitant and wary as he gets glimpses of another man lurking just beneath the surface. As Ludington begins filling in both Daniel's and Jack's pasts, we discover hidden depths and long-held secrets in the gritty and tumultuous scene of late 1960s Los Angeles.
Thorn Tree is a masterful piece of gorgeously constructed literary fiction from new-to-me author, Max Ludington. Filled with interesting characters, the pull of Thorn Tree was not only discovering more about the burgeoning story, but also in spending time learning about Daniel, the backbone of the novel. From the first page, the depth and care in the creation of Daniel was evident. The allure of Thorn Tree is an increasingly tension-filled tale and the convergence of the past timeline and the present, unfolding in degrees so subtle that I gasped out loud at one part. Before I knew it, the book simply became unputdownable.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
Daniel Tunison, a reclusive artist now in his late sixties, lives in a quietly appointed former guest cottage in Hollywood Hills. Known for one briefly monumental and massive sculpture, Thorn Tree, that he constructed from scrap metal in the Mojave desert in the 1970s, Daniel is haunted by past tragedy and a lifetime of mistakes made along the way.
Daniel's neighbor is Celia Dressler, a fragile actress hoping for a career resurgence following her own series of personal setbacks. While Celia is away filming a movie, she entrusts the care of her young son, Dean, to her enigmatic father, Jack, who has been living with them. As Dean befriends Daniel, Jack's increasingly unsettling presence leaves Daniel feeling hesitant and wary as he gets glimpses of another man lurking just beneath the surface. As Ludington begins filling in both Daniel's and Jack's pasts, we discover hidden depths and long-held secrets in the gritty and tumultuous scene of late 1960s Los Angeles.
Thorn Tree is a masterful piece of gorgeously constructed literary fiction from new-to-me author, Max Ludington. Filled with interesting characters, the pull of Thorn Tree was not only discovering more about the burgeoning story, but also in spending time learning about Daniel, the backbone of the novel. From the first page, the depth and care in the creation of Daniel was evident. The allure of Thorn Tree is an increasingly tension-filled tale and the convergence of the past timeline and the present, unfolding in degrees so subtle that I gasped out loud at one part. Before I knew it, the book simply became unputdownable.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
May 21, 2024
Even after finishing the last page, my mind returned over and over again the to finely etched characters of Daniel and Jack. The events that bring them together in the present day and their experiences in the tumultuous 1960s and ‘70s are haunting.
April 16, 2024
Thorn Tree by Max Ludington is a puzzling novel, difficult to categorize.
On the one hand, it is partly a meandering tale of experiences in the counterculture of California during the 1960s and 70s, with scenes involving drug use and abuse, music, and commune life. But it is also a character study of a complicated man, Daniel, age 68, who has lived a lifetime of personal tragedy, love lost, brushes with the law, and prison time. He tends to self-isolate, and now, in 2017, is retired and living alone in a rented guest house in Beverly Hills. The residents of the main house are a famous beautiful young actress Celia, her 6 year old son Dean, and her irascible father Jack.
Told in two timelines—past--1968 onward—and present—2017—the story wanders through their lives, told in long chapters and a stream of consciousness writing style. There are many words and long-winded descriptions of places and events.
I found most of the characters to be unlikeable, as they are generally unscrupulous and self-serving. They wallow in introspection and retrospection, and it is hard to feel a connection or sympathy for them and their unfortunate or downright unpleasant life choices. I did like Dean, the young boy, who is amazingly unspoiled in spite of all the damaged adults in his life.
The plot is decent, but again is not well-served by the very long chapters and philosophical ramblings. I did guess the story’s twist early on, and I think the ending is touching, and very much in keeping with the general tone of the story.
I really wanted to like this ARC, since I requested it in part because I lived the 60s and 70s in this milieu of experimentation and counterculture. But the lack of focus and rambling writing left me wanting tighter plotting and focused storytelling, and less hand-wringing by the main characters.
While this is a “miss” for me, I appreciate Ludington’s writing skill and imagination. I would definitely give his future novels consideration.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.
On the one hand, it is partly a meandering tale of experiences in the counterculture of California during the 1960s and 70s, with scenes involving drug use and abuse, music, and commune life. But it is also a character study of a complicated man, Daniel, age 68, who has lived a lifetime of personal tragedy, love lost, brushes with the law, and prison time. He tends to self-isolate, and now, in 2017, is retired and living alone in a rented guest house in Beverly Hills. The residents of the main house are a famous beautiful young actress Celia, her 6 year old son Dean, and her irascible father Jack.
Told in two timelines—past--1968 onward—and present—2017—the story wanders through their lives, told in long chapters and a stream of consciousness writing style. There are many words and long-winded descriptions of places and events.
I found most of the characters to be unlikeable, as they are generally unscrupulous and self-serving. They wallow in introspection and retrospection, and it is hard to feel a connection or sympathy for them and their unfortunate or downright unpleasant life choices. I did like Dean, the young boy, who is amazingly unspoiled in spite of all the damaged adults in his life.
The plot is decent, but again is not well-served by the very long chapters and philosophical ramblings. I did guess the story’s twist early on, and I think the ending is touching, and very much in keeping with the general tone of the story.
I really wanted to like this ARC, since I requested it in part because I lived the 60s and 70s in this milieu of experimentation and counterculture. But the lack of focus and rambling writing left me wanting tighter plotting and focused storytelling, and less hand-wringing by the main characters.
While this is a “miss” for me, I appreciate Ludington’s writing skill and imagination. I would definitely give his future novels consideration.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.
December 24, 2023
A sculpture is admired by the top art critics. It’s a thorn tree made from scrap pieces of metal with wild limbs in all directions. It has taken on a new meaning with this intriguing plot – one that you may find exciting and unusual.
The grandiose tree takes on a path of its own from the creator, Daniel, who remembered the love he had with his girlfriend, Rachel. This was the last place they were sitting together peacefully just south of Santa Cruz on one of the cliffs above the ocean. Rachel left to take a walk and when he woke up from a deep sleep, everything changed.
Life events can be unpredictable and this book is a prime example of how it can unravel when you think you have complete control of what’s ahead. We may meet someone who seems so familiar as described in the book -- like a reincarnated soul – and we try to make sense of it.
Max Ludington takes us into the drug scene of the late 60s with hippies living together at a mystical commune in California. For those living during this time, it could bring back some memories of this movement of free-spirited new-age love. I guess you can call this historical fiction for those that have to ask their parents or grandparents what this was all about.
The writing is engaging with a suspenseful plot and yet, the chapters are long without good breaking points. There are two stories that eventually merge into one and everything makes sense but can be confusing at first. Every character is well-thought out with vivid images to like or scorn with disgust. It’s a book like no other and I have a feeling that this story will linger in my head for a long time.
My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of April 16, 2024.
The grandiose tree takes on a path of its own from the creator, Daniel, who remembered the love he had with his girlfriend, Rachel. This was the last place they were sitting together peacefully just south of Santa Cruz on one of the cliffs above the ocean. Rachel left to take a walk and when he woke up from a deep sleep, everything changed.
Life events can be unpredictable and this book is a prime example of how it can unravel when you think you have complete control of what’s ahead. We may meet someone who seems so familiar as described in the book -- like a reincarnated soul – and we try to make sense of it.
Max Ludington takes us into the drug scene of the late 60s with hippies living together at a mystical commune in California. For those living during this time, it could bring back some memories of this movement of free-spirited new-age love. I guess you can call this historical fiction for those that have to ask their parents or grandparents what this was all about.
The writing is engaging with a suspenseful plot and yet, the chapters are long without good breaking points. There are two stories that eventually merge into one and everything makes sense but can be confusing at first. Every character is well-thought out with vivid images to like or scorn with disgust. It’s a book like no other and I have a feeling that this story will linger in my head for a long time.
My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of April 16, 2024.
April 1, 2024
About Daniel - an artist in the 1960s and his neighbor an actress who isn’t the best of mothers - and of course a secret long held - a great atmosphere in Hollywood and what was going on and the artists struggles
March 3, 2024
I had a hard time getting into this book as it jumps in time so easily, but once I had the characters straight I really enjoyed it. It involves many characters' Jack, Forest, Dean, Daniel, Celia--and that's just to name a few! It vacillates between the late sixties and the present, so we get scenes of the drug culture and LSD, along with the music world, art and sculpture, and "free love" and hippie cults. So buckle up and enjoy the ride as you may feel transported back to that crazy time when fantasies almost became an every day reality!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
July 20, 2023
An exciting three part novel set outside of Hollywood.
Daniel lives a hermit-like life. Once an infamous artist creating massive multimedia sculptures, he now lives a isolated life tutors young students in English in his free time. His actress- neighbor Celia, is recuperating from a second stay at rehab. She has recently been cast in a strenuous movie and is on the cusp of massive stardom. The filming has gone long and she has left her once estranged father Jack to watch her young son Dean.
All of these adults are running from trauma - how it all ties together and the story it makes will simply enthrall you! If you love multi-layered and complex characters and plots that span decades, this is an amazing book for you!
#ThornTree #Maxludington #StMartins
Daniel lives a hermit-like life. Once an infamous artist creating massive multimedia sculptures, he now lives a isolated life tutors young students in English in his free time. His actress- neighbor Celia, is recuperating from a second stay at rehab. She has recently been cast in a strenuous movie and is on the cusp of massive stardom. The filming has gone long and she has left her once estranged father Jack to watch her young son Dean.
All of these adults are running from trauma - how it all ties together and the story it makes will simply enthrall you! If you love multi-layered and complex characters and plots that span decades, this is an amazing book for you!
#ThornTree #Maxludington #StMartins
August 29, 2023
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this new novel. After sitting with it for a few days after finishing, I’m still not sure how to rate this book. I thInk the writing was very good, the plot was engrossing and kept me reading and reading. All good, right? But it also filled me with a weird sense of impending doom or angst right from the beginning. That is not something I typically experience when reading unless I seek out a horror or suspense novel, and I didn’t enjoy it in this book. I think many will but for me, it made me feel stressed out. I also felt disappointed by the way it ended. Characters did not have the resolutions I was hoping for, or in some cases, it was left open ended. Maybe too much like real life?
December 11, 2023
Review TK
December 18, 2023
The characters in Thorn Tree came of age in the Sixties with its drugs, sex, and rock and roll–and cults.
There is Daniel, who lost the woman he loved, accused of her murder but only found guilty and jailed for drug possession. After his release, he wandered into the desert and finds a place with an older man. Using junk metal, Daniel constructed a giant tree, the tree he was sitting under when his girlfriend took a walk and never returned. After selling the work, he destroys it, landing again in prison. Now in his sixties, he has a cottage next to a large estate owned by Hollywood star, Celia, who has a son, Dean.
And then there is Jack, who turned up late in his daughter’s life, taking on the role of caregiver grandfather to Dean while Celia is away filming the movie that could propel her career. When Jack is drunk, Dean wanders down to visit Daniel. Daniel is unaware that he has encountered Jack before.
When Jack returns to the philosophy he embraced at a commune in the Sixties, he indoctrinates Dean,an d the tension mounts.
There is murder and sexual abuse, drug use and alcoholism. The dark side of the Sixties leaves its impact on the characters.
Daniel’s creation of the Thorn Tree is beautifully presented. It is my favorite part of the story with its insight into the creative motivation and therapeutic healing behind art. I also enjoyed the character of Dean, who in the end is pivotal.
But the book is dominated by Jack in the later parts, which left me unsure. In the end, the story felt to be more about the impact of the cult on mentally unstable and unhealthy people than about art.
Readers who enjoy books about the Sixties will like this novel. The music of the Grateful Dead plays a part. Celia’s story takes readers into Hollywood and uncomfortable sexual exploitation.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book
There is Daniel, who lost the woman he loved, accused of her murder but only found guilty and jailed for drug possession. After his release, he wandered into the desert and finds a place with an older man. Using junk metal, Daniel constructed a giant tree, the tree he was sitting under when his girlfriend took a walk and never returned. After selling the work, he destroys it, landing again in prison. Now in his sixties, he has a cottage next to a large estate owned by Hollywood star, Celia, who has a son, Dean.
And then there is Jack, who turned up late in his daughter’s life, taking on the role of caregiver grandfather to Dean while Celia is away filming the movie that could propel her career. When Jack is drunk, Dean wanders down to visit Daniel. Daniel is unaware that he has encountered Jack before.
When Jack returns to the philosophy he embraced at a commune in the Sixties, he indoctrinates Dean,an d the tension mounts.
There is murder and sexual abuse, drug use and alcoholism. The dark side of the Sixties leaves its impact on the characters.
Daniel’s creation of the Thorn Tree is beautifully presented. It is my favorite part of the story with its insight into the creative motivation and therapeutic healing behind art. I also enjoyed the character of Dean, who in the end is pivotal.
But the book is dominated by Jack in the later parts, which left me unsure. In the end, the story felt to be more about the impact of the cult on mentally unstable and unhealthy people than about art.
Readers who enjoy books about the Sixties will like this novel. The music of the Grateful Dead plays a part. Celia’s story takes readers into Hollywood and uncomfortable sexual exploitation.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book
May 8, 2024
In a word, Thorn Tree is about connections.
Connections to our past deeds, our past selves, family legacies, and one another are the threads that tie this story together.
The story is character-driven. The plot unfolds from the characters’ decisions and the way those decisions play out in their lives. While the storytelling style won’t be for everyone, I loved that about this book.
We have two timelines; California in the late ‘60s and the present. Setting and atmosphere are immersive and evocative, bringing the past alive in ways that unexpectedly connect to the present.
This is a heavy read that’s powerful and thought-provoking, requiring the reader to take time to reflect along the way.
*I received a free copy from St. Martin’s Press.*
Connections to our past deeds, our past selves, family legacies, and one another are the threads that tie this story together.
The story is character-driven. The plot unfolds from the characters’ decisions and the way those decisions play out in their lives. While the storytelling style won’t be for everyone, I loved that about this book.
We have two timelines; California in the late ‘60s and the present. Setting and atmosphere are immersive and evocative, bringing the past alive in ways that unexpectedly connect to the present.
This is a heavy read that’s powerful and thought-provoking, requiring the reader to take time to reflect along the way.
*I received a free copy from St. Martin’s Press.*
April 28, 2024
This book was a four star book until the end. The ending was thoroughly disappointing. Another book where I felt the author just gave up and decided they were done. I invested in the characters. I guess I'll make up my own ending. Thumbs down.
January 1, 2025
This book dragged... Maybe it's the genre. More likely it's the era that it talks about: the late 1960s hippie and drug culture, something that I only heard about in rarely told stories from the older generation. By the time I was born, however, my parents and their generation were dealing with the aftermath (fallout? anger?) of the Vietnam War. The story wasn't very subtle in hiding the "potential" connection between Daniel and Jack, and early on like 1/4 of the way into the book, I already guessed correctly what the connection was. Everything in between became just too much verbiage for me, that I kept putting the book down coz it just didn't hold my attention: there just wasn't too much motivation for me after guessing at the connection and then knowing what the ending was likely to be halfway through. The author could have ended the book with half the pages it took to write the whole story. It didn't even get to be exciting until p. 355. Plus, there was no redeeming factor at the end: everything just spiraled downwards to a very unsatisfying conclusion. You don't even know if the boy gets to be with his mother again, as it was all left to conjecture where it could go either way. I only finished the book out of my own OC compulsion to always finish a book I started reading, no matter how bad or scary it is.
October 3, 2023
Daniel lives in quiet anonymity (just the way he likes it) in a converted guest cottage in the Hollywood Hills. A legendary artist, now in his late sixties, he’s known for one piece - Thorn Tree—a huge, welded, scrap metal sculpture that he built in the Mojave desert in the 1970’s. The work emerged from a tragedy in Daniel’s life but building it kept him alive. He was virtually a hermit and lived with the owner of the scrap yard, Ben who encouraged the ultimate completion of the piece. Soon, people came from all around to see his sculpture and without wanting to, he was pushed into the fame of the art world.
Daniel is neighbors with Celia: she lives in the big house, he in the gatehouse. Celia is an actress, hoping to reignite her career with an off-the-wall director. A single mom, she leaves her six year old son Dean for weeks at a time with her father, Jack while she’s on location. Jack and Daniel strike up a tentative friendship as Dean likes visiting Daniel’s cottage--but something about Jack raises questions in Daniels head. To him, Jack is not the harmless grandparent he pretends to be.
The story takes place in three parts: the drug induced LSD 1960s, with Grateful Dead concerts and the Charles Manson cult; the glitter of Beverly Hills now and everything in between. Daniel and Jack have lived those years, similar but different. Jack always appeared shady to me and I wasn’t sure where that was going. Daniel had a difficult time in his early adult life but was trying to be the best he could be, struggling with his demons. Together the book revolves around them and their lives.
I enjoyed this book. Growing up in the 60’s, it brought back a lot of memories.
Not a deep read but enjoyable all the same.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read Thorn Tree!
I enjoyed this book. Growing up in the 60’s, it brought back a lot of memories.
Not a deep read but enjoyable all the same.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read Thorn Tree!
February 29, 2024
Daniel, a once famous artist, who sought and protects his now quiet life away from the turbulent 60’s, lives in a converted guest cottage owned by a movie star who is intent on re-awakening her flailing career. Her father, Jack, who has a bit of a nefarious past history of his own, lives there, taking care of his young grandson, Daniel can’t warm up to Jack ,who reminds Daniel of a period in his life he would just as soon forget, the reason he’s retreated from the public eye. An explosive twist that this reader didn’t see coming.
Mr. Ludington has delivered a well-written, compelling novel where the past collides with the present and which will stay with you long after reading the last page.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel pre-publication.
Mr. Ludington has delivered a well-written, compelling novel where the past collides with the present and which will stay with you long after reading the last page.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel pre-publication.
October 28, 2024
DNF- I tried with this one, I really did. I first picked it up back in April and after two weeks of being stuck in the same chapter only 10% of the way in, I put it down. I picked it up again last week and started over. This time I made it to 35% before I decided this just wasn’t for me. The chapters are very long and there are way too many components to this. There are two completely different stories going on and while I’m sure they will come together by the end, I can’t make myself care enough to stick around for it. Should it ever be an audiobook I’ll try listening and perhaps my opinion will change, but for now this is it. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. Thorn Tree hit the shelves on April 16th
December 25, 2023
Thorn Tree is a very well done novel. The author expertly navigates between different time periods and character perspectives, the enduring impact of trauma, and the creativity that drives artists. I would highly recommend this to readers who enjoy delving into the past in order to understand the present, and who can appreciate how and why people make both good and bad choices. The plot kept me interested, wondering what had happened, what was going to happen, and how the characters respond to each other. I enjoyed this book. Growing up in the 60’s, it brought back a lot of memories. My thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 9, 2024
A thriller from start to finish, Thorn Tree starts with foreboding and the tension builds to an unresolved ending. Baby boomers will appreciate and identify with many of the musical and cultural references in the 60's time period. I was engrossed throughout the story but felt betrayed by the cliff hanging conclusion for many of the characters. I turned the page of the last chapter expecting an epilogue that would tie up loose ends.. I exclaimed out loud "What??!!?". Is there a sequel? This would be a five star read for me except for the ending.
December 27, 2023
I can only say WOW! The characters in this book along with the story line were amazing. I got so engrossed in the story, the characters, I feel that I have lived what they lived. I would read anything by this author. The book was really amazing. I am sorry about how some things turned out. A sequel perhaps? WOW, the book was so good.
April 22, 2024
For full review, go here: https://readwithme2018.com/2024/04/22...
I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading Thorn Tree. From the blurb, I was expecting some insight into 1960s drug culture, and well, I don’t know what I was expecting after that. So, I went into reading Thorn Tree with an open mind. I mainly felt neutral toward the book.
The main storyline of Thorn Tree focuses on Daniel, Jack, and Celia. The storylines were well-written but flat. I also had the same feeling with the secondary storylines. They were flat and didn’t add much to the main storyline. Also, in certain parts of the storyline, the storyline is almost fever-dream-like. I also was not a fan of how the author would switch from 2017 to the past without giving a heads-up. It made for a lot of backtracking, which I prefer to avoid.
Out of the four characters, Daniel was the most relatable. Yes, he had some pretty crappy things happen to him. And yes, Daniel did some pretty crappy things, too, but he had turned his life around. He became an educator who valued his students. He was trying to mend fences with his son and reconnect with his ex while helping out her seventeen-year-old son. He was just a good guy overall.
Jack, on the other hand, I detested. From the minute he was introduced in the book, I felt that he was off in a way. And, oh boy, was he. I felt dirty after reading his chapters as if I needed a shower. Like Daniel, he had some crappy things happen to him. But, he took the trauma of those things and let them control him. He did love Dean in his way, and I didn’t doubt that. But, the events in the second half of the book disgusted me.
I did like Celia, but I felt terrible for who she had as a father and what she was being forced to do on set. Unlike Jack, who tried to hide who he was, Celia knew precisely what type of person she was and what kind of person she wanted to be. I wasn’t a big fan of how her relationship with Leo started. But, the conversations that she and Leo had were thought-provoking and soul-searching. I also never doubted her feelings for Dean. She loved her son, and everything she endured on that set was to give him a good life.
I also liked Dean. However, as the book went on and Jack became more interested in his ex-cult (I will explain below), Dean became more damaged. He went from an outgoing, vibrant child to one who shut down to everyone except for Jack, Celia, and Daniel. Jack was sucking the childhood right out of him, and it was painful to watch.
The storyline with Daniel broke my heart. It was interesting to see Daniel evolve into the man he was in 2017. I liked that the author had him trying to rectify past mistakes and express regrets over things he did in the past (the blowing up of his tree, though, was not a regret of his). I was not expecting his storyline to end as it did, and I was a little grumpy about that.
The storyline with Jack was interesting, even though I didn’t like him. The author didn’t even pretend he was a good guy; I liked that he did that. I wish the author had spent more time on Jack’s time in the death cult. It would have explained why he was so fixated on it in 2017 and why he put his grandson through the events that he did.
The storyline with Celia and the one with Dean (up to almost the end of the book, where his storyline became the only one) were fascinating. But they didn’t hold my interest (it was more about Daniel and Jack). That is until the last half of the book. Then Dean’s storyline became very interesting. I am going to repeat what I said above; Jack was sucking away Dean’s childhood. It was so evident by the last chapter, which I can’t go into.
There was a secondary storyline that involved two teenagers (Chris and Hunter) and a pamphlet that contained the works of Jack’s long-dead cult leader. While I didn’t feel that it added any depth to the main or Jack’s storyline, I did find it fascinating to see how Chris got swept up in the whole cult idea. I also found it fascinating that Jack seemingly got swept up, too.
I liked that the author went a little in-depth into the counterculture of the late ’60s. I found those chapters fascinating and wished that the author had spent a little more time there.
The end of Thorn Tree was a bit bland. The author did bring everything together, but I wasn’t happy with any of the outcomes. Jack’s confession to Daniel, while needed, did not need to turn into what it did. Also, I wouldn’t say I liked how the whole Dean storyline ended. I was shaking my head in disbelief and dsiappointment.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Max Ludington for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Thorn Tree. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading Thorn Tree. From the blurb, I was expecting some insight into 1960s drug culture, and well, I don’t know what I was expecting after that. So, I went into reading Thorn Tree with an open mind. I mainly felt neutral toward the book.
The main storyline of Thorn Tree focuses on Daniel, Jack, and Celia. The storylines were well-written but flat. I also had the same feeling with the secondary storylines. They were flat and didn’t add much to the main storyline. Also, in certain parts of the storyline, the storyline is almost fever-dream-like. I also was not a fan of how the author would switch from 2017 to the past without giving a heads-up. It made for a lot of backtracking, which I prefer to avoid.
Out of the four characters, Daniel was the most relatable. Yes, he had some pretty crappy things happen to him. And yes, Daniel did some pretty crappy things, too, but he had turned his life around. He became an educator who valued his students. He was trying to mend fences with his son and reconnect with his ex while helping out her seventeen-year-old son. He was just a good guy overall.
Jack, on the other hand, I detested. From the minute he was introduced in the book, I felt that he was off in a way. And, oh boy, was he. I felt dirty after reading his chapters as if I needed a shower. Like Daniel, he had some crappy things happen to him. But, he took the trauma of those things and let them control him. He did love Dean in his way, and I didn’t doubt that. But, the events in the second half of the book disgusted me.
I did like Celia, but I felt terrible for who she had as a father and what she was being forced to do on set. Unlike Jack, who tried to hide who he was, Celia knew precisely what type of person she was and what kind of person she wanted to be. I wasn’t a big fan of how her relationship with Leo started. But, the conversations that she and Leo had were thought-provoking and soul-searching. I also never doubted her feelings for Dean. She loved her son, and everything she endured on that set was to give him a good life.
I also liked Dean. However, as the book went on and Jack became more interested in his ex-cult (I will explain below), Dean became more damaged. He went from an outgoing, vibrant child to one who shut down to everyone except for Jack, Celia, and Daniel. Jack was sucking the childhood right out of him, and it was painful to watch.
The storyline with Daniel broke my heart. It was interesting to see Daniel evolve into the man he was in 2017. I liked that the author had him trying to rectify past mistakes and express regrets over things he did in the past (the blowing up of his tree, though, was not a regret of his). I was not expecting his storyline to end as it did, and I was a little grumpy about that.
The storyline with Jack was interesting, even though I didn’t like him. The author didn’t even pretend he was a good guy; I liked that he did that. I wish the author had spent more time on Jack’s time in the death cult. It would have explained why he was so fixated on it in 2017 and why he put his grandson through the events that he did.
The storyline with Celia and the one with Dean (up to almost the end of the book, where his storyline became the only one) were fascinating. But they didn’t hold my interest (it was more about Daniel and Jack). That is until the last half of the book. Then Dean’s storyline became very interesting. I am going to repeat what I said above; Jack was sucking away Dean’s childhood. It was so evident by the last chapter, which I can’t go into.
There was a secondary storyline that involved two teenagers (Chris and Hunter) and a pamphlet that contained the works of Jack’s long-dead cult leader. While I didn’t feel that it added any depth to the main or Jack’s storyline, I did find it fascinating to see how Chris got swept up in the whole cult idea. I also found it fascinating that Jack seemingly got swept up, too.
I liked that the author went a little in-depth into the counterculture of the late ’60s. I found those chapters fascinating and wished that the author had spent a little more time there.
The end of Thorn Tree was a bit bland. The author did bring everything together, but I wasn’t happy with any of the outcomes. Jack’s confession to Daniel, while needed, did not need to turn into what it did. Also, I wouldn’t say I liked how the whole Dean storyline ended. I was shaking my head in disbelief and dsiappointment.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Max Ludington for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Thorn Tree. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
August 10, 2023
Thorn Tree by Max Ludington is the type of read you can enjoy for the plot, the characters, and/or the nostalgic (or if you're younger, the historic) aspects. Fortunately, all three appealed to me so this was an exceptional novel.
Thinking back to living in the LA area a couple times while growing up (I was a Navy brat and my mother was an LA native, well, Van Nuys) put me there in the late sixties and again in the early 70s, so while I didn't experience it quite like the characters, it did bring back memories, especially in some of the descriptions of terrain or the feel of a gray day. But that wasn't the most appealing part for me.
The plot kept me engaged, wondering what had happened, what was going to happen, and how the characters would respond. I think we were given some subtle insights that built up both the tension and the investment for us as readers. But even the wonderful plot wasn't what grabbed me the most.
It was definitely the characters. I didn't have to like or even approve of everything they did, but I was given the opportunity to understand why they did what they did and what kind of sense it made to them. In many novels, when we try to "figure out" a character, we are only thinking in terms of ways it impacts the plot. Here, for me, I was thinking about them the way I think about people in real life. Not just to understand the big moments but to understand them as humans, which means the small things and the casual habits and/or thoughts. I don't have to like all of them. But I do need to want to understand them, and Ludington made me want to do that.
I would highly recommend this to readers who enjoy going into the past in order to understand the present, and who can appreciate how and why people make choices, both good ones and bad ones. I don't know if some part of my attraction to the characters has to do with a sense of familiarity I felt at times, but I do think it went beyond that, so readers who like character-driven plots should find a lot here to digest.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Thinking back to living in the LA area a couple times while growing up (I was a Navy brat and my mother was an LA native, well, Van Nuys) put me there in the late sixties and again in the early 70s, so while I didn't experience it quite like the characters, it did bring back memories, especially in some of the descriptions of terrain or the feel of a gray day. But that wasn't the most appealing part for me.
The plot kept me engaged, wondering what had happened, what was going to happen, and how the characters would respond. I think we were given some subtle insights that built up both the tension and the investment for us as readers. But even the wonderful plot wasn't what grabbed me the most.
It was definitely the characters. I didn't have to like or even approve of everything they did, but I was given the opportunity to understand why they did what they did and what kind of sense it made to them. In many novels, when we try to "figure out" a character, we are only thinking in terms of ways it impacts the plot. Here, for me, I was thinking about them the way I think about people in real life. Not just to understand the big moments but to understand them as humans, which means the small things and the casual habits and/or thoughts. I don't have to like all of them. But I do need to want to understand them, and Ludington made me want to do that.
I would highly recommend this to readers who enjoy going into the past in order to understand the present, and who can appreciate how and why people make choices, both good ones and bad ones. I don't know if some part of my attraction to the characters has to do with a sense of familiarity I felt at times, but I do think it went beyond that, so readers who like character-driven plots should find a lot here to digest.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
April 17, 2024
Thorn Tree by Max Ludington is a convoluted story of two men and their offspring and extended families. The timeline jumps around to tell the story in real time. The men are called Daniel and Jack. Daniel is a fabulous character who tried LSD once and it changed his life. Turns out he had a jar of it in his trunk and he went to prison. He had been with a girl who was found dead, but they couldn’t prove he killed it. When he got out of jail he was seriously depressed and walked into the desert, ready to die. He was found by an old guy named Ben, who brought him around and kept him for a while. Ben had a junk yard, now defunct, and Daniel helped him get the remaining stuff to town to sell. Then he began to eye what was left. From it he built a tree, a big tree. He gained a lot of recognition and so he built a couple more. Daniel was so unhappy about the commerciality of it all that he blew two of them up. He went to jail, again, terrorism. Now he was out and he was old. He lived in a cottage and led a peaceful life until a little boy named Dean entered it and brought with him his mother and his grandfather.
This is a beautifully written book, with plenty of well-written descriptions, as well as the lives of several people entwined in it. Took me back. The plot was interesting, reminiscent of the lives of many aging “hippies.” Drugs had been manifest, reaching for a new reality. It was fairly easy to convince a bunch of druggies that one could open their hearts and minds to a new reality. They would follow him anywhere. It was an intricate plot, totally character-driven and what wonderful characters they were, caricatures, maybe, but maybe real. It is a long book, but well worth the time and effort. Touching, heart-breaking, and so much more. Thanks, Max Ludington, for this effort.
I was invited to read Thorn Tree by St. Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #MaxLudington #ThornTree
This is a beautifully written book, with plenty of well-written descriptions, as well as the lives of several people entwined in it. Took me back. The plot was interesting, reminiscent of the lives of many aging “hippies.” Drugs had been manifest, reaching for a new reality. It was fairly easy to convince a bunch of druggies that one could open their hearts and minds to a new reality. They would follow him anywhere. It was an intricate plot, totally character-driven and what wonderful characters they were, caricatures, maybe, but maybe real. It is a long book, but well worth the time and effort. Touching, heart-breaking, and so much more. Thanks, Max Ludington, for this effort.
I was invited to read Thorn Tree by St. Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #MaxLudington #ThornTree
April 15, 2024
4 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It was very different, and I wondered how all the storylines and characters were going to intertwine. In the end the backstories in the flashbacks showed how these people all had histories that overlapped. It was very well done. Just a note, there is a lot about drug use and abuse, and some emotional/sexual abuse as well.
Daniel was a product of the sixties. Lived in California, smoked a bit of weed, kind of a carefree soul. Until tragedy hit his life and he found himself wandering through the desert where he came upon a salvage yard that became his home for a time. During this time he created an artistic masterpiece called Thorn Tree. He was known for it. Someone paid a very large sum of money for it. But after that Daniel became quite lost.
He met up with an old friend from the sixties, Cam, and moved into a guest house on Cam’s property in Beverly Hills. He cleaned up his act and became a teacher. When Cam passed, the house was purchased by a young actress, Celia, with a young son and her father. The son, Dean, became friends with Daniel, by wandering on over to Daniel’s house when his grandfather, Jack, is neglectful.
As these four lives become more interconnected, we see into the past of Jack’s and Daniel’s lives, and the circumstances that has brought them together.
Really great look into the culture and environment of the sixties in California. How it ultimately shaped so many lives, especially in cult-like groups and communes. How some people were able to move along with the times, and others firmly gripped in the mentality that existed at that time and have never changed. Great character studies for these people. Ludington has created a book that immerses you in their lives and what led them to today and how they are.
Not perfect, but a very enjoyable read that I would recommend.
I really enjoyed this book. It was very different, and I wondered how all the storylines and characters were going to intertwine. In the end the backstories in the flashbacks showed how these people all had histories that overlapped. It was very well done. Just a note, there is a lot about drug use and abuse, and some emotional/sexual abuse as well.
Daniel was a product of the sixties. Lived in California, smoked a bit of weed, kind of a carefree soul. Until tragedy hit his life and he found himself wandering through the desert where he came upon a salvage yard that became his home for a time. During this time he created an artistic masterpiece called Thorn Tree. He was known for it. Someone paid a very large sum of money for it. But after that Daniel became quite lost.
He met up with an old friend from the sixties, Cam, and moved into a guest house on Cam’s property in Beverly Hills. He cleaned up his act and became a teacher. When Cam passed, the house was purchased by a young actress, Celia, with a young son and her father. The son, Dean, became friends with Daniel, by wandering on over to Daniel’s house when his grandfather, Jack, is neglectful.
As these four lives become more interconnected, we see into the past of Jack’s and Daniel’s lives, and the circumstances that has brought them together.
Really great look into the culture and environment of the sixties in California. How it ultimately shaped so many lives, especially in cult-like groups and communes. How some people were able to move along with the times, and others firmly gripped in the mentality that existed at that time and have never changed. Great character studies for these people. Ludington has created a book that immerses you in their lives and what led them to today and how they are.
Not perfect, but a very enjoyable read that I would recommend.
April 23, 2024
There is a lot going on in this story and a lot of characters. I would consider Daniel the center character with the rest being related to him. The story starts in the 1960's when he falls in love with Rachel. On a trip to LA to make a drug deal for his boss they become acquainted with a cult that lives in the desert. On their way home Rachel and Daniel stop to rest and come down from an acid trip when Rachel wanders off and falls off a cliff. That's all I'm going to say.
I liked Daniel. He did some sketchy things but turned his life around and became a teacher and now still tutors underprivileged kids. Jack I despised from the start. Celia was trying to be a good mom to her son, Dean, but she had a crappy upbringing and was also in recovery. The chapters were long and there were some characters that were brought in like Gerald, Hunter and Chris, that just added to the muddle and didn't seem to move the story along. The author likes to use big words when a regular word would work better. Then there is the ending. It all came together pretty fast and I thought left a lot of things hanging and not in the read my next book to find out what happens next but more like the author was just done with it.
I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.
I liked Daniel. He did some sketchy things but turned his life around and became a teacher and now still tutors underprivileged kids. Jack I despised from the start. Celia was trying to be a good mom to her son, Dean, but she had a crappy upbringing and was also in recovery. The chapters were long and there were some characters that were brought in like Gerald, Hunter and Chris, that just added to the muddle and didn't seem to move the story along. The author likes to use big words when a regular word would work better. Then there is the ending. It all came together pretty fast and I thought left a lot of things hanging and not in the read my next book to find out what happens next but more like the author was just done with it.
I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.
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