Treetops: A Family Memoir

by Susan Cheever

The effects of living with a dynasty of talented individuals are explored in a memoir of the American family that gave to the world Thomas Watson, co-inventor of the telephone, Yale Medical School founder Milton Winternitz, and writer John Cheever

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

204 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1991

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set against the backdrop of Treetops, the New Hampshire family retreat where the Cheevers still summer, and going back several generations, this memoir focuses on Susan Cheever's mother's family, and includes portraits of her great-grandfather, Thomas Watson, who invented the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell, and her grandfather Milton Winternitz, a brilliant doctor who built Yale Medical School.

Although I was interested especially in the stories of the two grandfathers, I found this less compelling than HOME BEFORE DARK which I read years ago. I'm struck by the similarities between Susan Cheever and Alexandra Styron, both writing about their writing fathers, both of whom had very dark and violent sides. I too am writing about my writing father, a journalist, and feel him looking over my shoulder as they must have done. It's not an easy burden to bear.

[Juliet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quiet, vaguely disorganized. One senses that there's meant to be a narrative arc in here somewhere, a theme -- but it never quite makes it out of the smallest whispers. Feels slight, wish it would have gone deeper. That one's family is famous does not particularly make one's family vacation home & minor household dramas there of any more interest.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt the first book in this trilogy of memoirs, Home Before Dark, was a better read than this one. There seem to have been equal amounts of staggering dysfunction and incredible privilege in the life she describes.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing read about an area just up the road from us with an interesting history.

[Sutter Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed portions of it; read book after listening to a reading of her childhood near Central Park on radio program, unsure what.
Too much of her personal family history to keep track of, or to care about, and I was seeking anything about her father.
I found contact for her and emailed her and surprised to get a quick reply, on Sunday, no less. Here is what I wrote and her response.

On Saturday, March 1, 2014 2:00 AM,
Hi Susan. Reading Treetops last year I was hopelessly confused by all of the surnames that start with "W" in your family. (Had this been a work of fiction, that wouldn't have occurred, of course.) I jotted down names on a bookmark in order to keep track. Here is what I'd noted, as near as I can decipher my scribbles:
Watson, Wintgnitz, Winternitz or Winterny,
Weiste, Whitney, Whtiv (?).
Could you or an assistant clarify this list for me?
Best, a fan of yours and your father
Susan Cheever's response:
Is this a complaint? You didn't mention liking the book so I am not sure what you are asking. The names are Watson, Winternitz and Whitney. I gather you don't have the book anymore. I hope you did enjoy it when you had it.

[Susan Merrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad to have read about the other side of the family, having so admired Home Before Dark, Cheever's book about her father, John Cheever. This, too, is a fascinating read. I can't imagine what it would be like to know oneself to be so much a part of history--from Thomas Watson as a great-grandfather, to Yale medical pioneer Milton Winternitz as grandfather, to John Cheever as father--and to have always been a citizen of a mini-fiefdom, for what else is a family retreat like Treetops, the New Hampshire summer compound where the Watson descendants have summered since the 1920s? Susan Cheever's great gifts as a writer, from fiction to memoir to biography, are amply evident in this book. I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down. Her voice is engaging and likable; her control of story-telling admirable--I highly recommend this as terrific writing, and also a surprising bit of connected history.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Treetops, a family memoir by Susan Cheever
Location: 50 acres of land in NH and one writes of the husbands that tend the land.
Rustic camp is still there, starts with her great grandfather and others who were very prominent in their lives and the effects they had on the community.
Family myths and the women who stood in the shadows of their famous men. Love the silly stories of how a truck can run on milk, etc ... Families and friends always meet one month in the summer.
Secrets are also disclosed and how others deal with them at the time..
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Liz Meade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness.... this was my life growing up!

[Constance · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to love about Susan Cheever?

[Nancy Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting family

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting