The Caleb Trees

by Dee Holmes

For most of her marriage, Meg DeWilde had devoted herself to her family - sensitive Caleb, carefree Bethany and her loving husband, Jack. But on a bright spring day, one tragic, incomprehensible act shattered their whole world. In the aftermath of Caleb's suicide, the DeWilde family is devastated by grief, shock...and anger. Bethany is sullen and rebellious, and Jack just wants to put the tragedy behind them. Meg, however, believes that the only way for the family to heal is to find out why Caleb felt driven to take his life. But as she unravels the circumstances surrounding Caleb's death, she reaches a new understanding of the life she shares with Jack - and the strength she needs to mend her broken family...

313 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew! Man, I am drained after reading this book. The Caleb Tree gave me major Jodi Picoult vibes. It isn’t a bad thing because both Holmes and Picoult are seasoned writers, but the book left me with an “are you kidding me?!” exclamation which has happened to me reading J Picoult books in the past. I knew going in it dealt with a 16 year old boy committing suicide and the family coming to terms with it. It also dealt with a husband’s guilt of cheating on his wife while the said son is committing suicide. But it’s even more complicated than that. Honestly, the ramifications of a one time betrayal are catastrophic.
I understood the reason why the wife protected her husband, but the topic of teenage suicide was glossed over and that infuriated me.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm percolating just a bit on this review...More to come...

This one was a gut punch, too. Dee Holmes is a great writer! So many heavy topics in this book - infidelity, suicide, marital strife, bullying...just a lot. The book definitely felt a little dated to me, but not so much as to distract from the story. The infidelity part was horrific just because of its ultimate consequences. How did our H wind up with his zipper down? It was a series of bad decisions that landed him drinking champagne in the home of a known vixen with a Daddy complex. The same decisions would have gotten an H's ass kicked these days, but back then, maybe there was more of a men-can't-help-themselves view of cheating?

Reading about the h tearing her life upside down to figure out the truth behind her son's suicide just plain hurt. Watching the H try to NOT have to disclose also hurt. And ultimately, the h's decision to keep the big secret just floored me. Another instance of an h in a romance patting and smoothing until the bad infidelity wrinkles are gone. But the writing...the writing was beautiful and I keep thinking if it elicited such powerful feelings in me, then the strength of the writing speaks for itself.

[wrkatreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this book shocked me.

Reread 2023

Still shocking. Unable to see how forgiveness happened

[Tmstprc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough book to get through... suicide, infidelity and statutory rape.

[Ruth Cronan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of meh~ish with Holmes' writing being its saving grace. I didn't like the story because it is rather heavy and I am really angry at Jack for his role in this whole shebang!

[Eliana]

Ney, it's me, i'm depressed!!!

[BrownAyez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read for me and I like the author’s voice. Not sure how it was marketed but the story was recommended to me as a romance. That’s not how I would describe it - it’s more of a family drama/chick lit feel.

The dynamics within the family were layered and I found myself feeling sympathetic to all the members, even those I didn’t understand or even like.