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The Tasmanian Tales #3
The Memory Tree
Playing God is a dangerous game …
When forest protests engulf a tiny Tasmanian timber town, one family’s century of secrets threatens to destroy a marriage – and bring down a government.
Matt Abbott, head ranger at beautiful Binburra National Park, is a man with something to hide. He confides his secret to nobody, not even his wife Penny. The deception gnaws away at their marriage.
Matt’s father, timber and mining magnate Fraser Abbott, stands for everything Matt hates. Son disappoints father, father disappoints son – this is their well-worn template. But Fraser seems suddenly determined to repair the rift between them at any cost, and Matt will discover that secrets run in the family. When Sarah, a visiting Californian geneticist, tries to steal Matt’s heart, the scene is set for a deadly betrayal.
The Memory Tree is a haunting story of family relationships, the unbreakable ties we all have to the past and the redemptive power of love.
When forest protests engulf a tiny Tasmanian timber town, one family’s century of secrets threatens to destroy a marriage – and bring down a government.
Matt Abbott, head ranger at beautiful Binburra National Park, is a man with something to hide. He confides his secret to nobody, not even his wife Penny. The deception gnaws away at their marriage.
Matt’s father, timber and mining magnate Fraser Abbott, stands for everything Matt hates. Son disappoints father, father disappoints son – this is their well-worn template. But Fraser seems suddenly determined to repair the rift between them at any cost, and Matt will discover that secrets run in the family. When Sarah, a visiting Californian geneticist, tries to steal Matt’s heart, the scene is set for a deadly betrayal.
The Memory Tree is a haunting story of family relationships, the unbreakable ties we all have to the past and the redemptive power of love.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2019
25 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Scoullar
24 books135 followersJennifer Scoullar Bio
Jennifer has always harboured a deep appreciation and respect for the natural world. Her house is on a hill-top, overlooking valleys of messmate and mountain ash. A pair of old eagles live there too. Black-shouldered wallabies graze by the creek. Eastern Spinebills hover among the callistemon. Jennifer lives with her family on a beautiful property in the mountains, that was left to her by her father. Horses have always been her passion. She grew up on the books of Elyne Mitchell, and all her life she’s ridden and bred horses, in particular Australian Stock Horses. She has nine published novels. Brumby’s Run (Penguin 2012), Currawong Creek (Penguin 2013), Billabong Bend (Penguin 2014), Turtle Reef (Penguin 2015), Journey's End (Penguin 2016), Fortune's Son (Penguin 2017), The Lost Valley (Pilyara Press 2018), The Memory Tree (Pilyara Press 2019) and Wasp Season (Pilyara Press 2020)
Jennifer has always harboured a deep appreciation and respect for the natural world. Her house is on a hill-top, overlooking valleys of messmate and mountain ash. A pair of old eagles live there too. Black-shouldered wallabies graze by the creek. Eastern Spinebills hover among the callistemon. Jennifer lives with her family on a beautiful property in the mountains, that was left to her by her father. Horses have always been her passion. She grew up on the books of Elyne Mitchell, and all her life she’s ridden and bred horses, in particular Australian Stock Horses. She has nine published novels. Brumby’s Run (Penguin 2012), Currawong Creek (Penguin 2013), Billabong Bend (Penguin 2014), Turtle Reef (Penguin 2015), Journey's End (Penguin 2016), Fortune's Son (Penguin 2017), The Lost Valley (Pilyara Press 2018), The Memory Tree (Pilyara Press 2019) and Wasp Season (Pilyara Press 2020)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 23, 2020
Matt Abbott and his wife Penny lived and worked at Binburra National Park in Tasmania, with Matt as head ranger. The secret he carried weighed on his heart and he couldn’t even tell Penny. Matt worked with the eagles and other Tasmanian wildlife, while Penny worked with the smaller wounded animals in preparing them to return to the wild. Penny’s taxidermy was something she loved and Fraser Abbott, Matt’s father was a good teacher. But Matt and Fraser were estranged so Penny didn’t tell Matt about her work with Fraser.
The protesters for the forests of timber, the age-old trees, the one tree that had been there for generations kept the logging and timber industry frustrated. When tragedy struck around the beautiful old tree, the politics of the two sides were fired up; angry and both determined to have things their own way. The truck drivers were out of work, and that included Penny’s uncle Ray, but they also had friends in the protesters group. But it was the arrival from the US of a geneticist, determined to find out more about the Tasmanian tigers that caused the most trouble…
The Memory Tree is the 3rd in The Tasmanian Tales series by Aussie author Jennifer Scoullar, and is a fascinating look at Tasmania’s timber industry; the plight of the wildlife including the extinct Thylacine; and of trust and betrayal as well as long held secrets. I expected this novel to continue on from #2, The Lost Valley, but The Memory Tree is set quite some years later with Fraser and Matt the descendants of those long ago Abbotts. Although not as riveting as the first two in the series, The Memory Tree is an enjoyable read which I recommend.
With thanks to the author for my digital copy to read in exchange for an honest review.
The protesters for the forests of timber, the age-old trees, the one tree that had been there for generations kept the logging and timber industry frustrated. When tragedy struck around the beautiful old tree, the politics of the two sides were fired up; angry and both determined to have things their own way. The truck drivers were out of work, and that included Penny’s uncle Ray, but they also had friends in the protesters group. But it was the arrival from the US of a geneticist, determined to find out more about the Tasmanian tigers that caused the most trouble…
The Memory Tree is the 3rd in The Tasmanian Tales series by Aussie author Jennifer Scoullar, and is a fascinating look at Tasmania’s timber industry; the plight of the wildlife including the extinct Thylacine; and of trust and betrayal as well as long held secrets. I expected this novel to continue on from #2, The Lost Valley, but The Memory Tree is set quite some years later with Fraser and Matt the descendants of those long ago Abbotts. Although not as riveting as the first two in the series, The Memory Tree is an enjoyable read which I recommend.
With thanks to the author for my digital copy to read in exchange for an honest review.
November 4, 2019
A fantastic story with suspense, mystery and a bit of romance.I couldn't put it down. Absolutely loved it.
October 3, 2019
When Jennifer Scoullar started writing rural fiction some years ago, I soaked up her warm-hearted stories with pleasure. But what always stood out for me with her writing was her love for the land - it seeped onto every page, through description and the environmental issues that underpinned the story.
The Memory Tree is the third book in her The Tasmanian Tales series. I haven't read the first two books (soon to be rectified) but that wasn't an issue. Each book can be read as a standalone. While The Memory Tree is a departure from the more romantic tales of her earlier books, her voice and love for the land remains distinctive and strong. Jennifer has strayed from the "norm" in including some flora and fauna POVs which were both well-imagined and authentic. The Tasmanian landscape was beautifully depicted. I visited Tasmania in 2016 and as I read, I found myself wanting to visit again, because the descriptions were both familiar and strange all at once. I wanted to find the hidden valley and let it remain a secret all at once.
Expect a thoughtful tale of a marriage on the brink of breaking, thylacine discoveries, Tasmanian Devil research, and activism related to saving a forest giant, Pallawarra (one scene in particular made me tear up). Thank you, Jennifer - I like that as a writer, you're not afraid to follow your heart, show your hand, and test the boundaries.
The Memory Tree is the third book in her The Tasmanian Tales series. I haven't read the first two books (soon to be rectified) but that wasn't an issue. Each book can be read as a standalone. While The Memory Tree is a departure from the more romantic tales of her earlier books, her voice and love for the land remains distinctive and strong. Jennifer has strayed from the "norm" in including some flora and fauna POVs which were both well-imagined and authentic. The Tasmanian landscape was beautifully depicted. I visited Tasmania in 2016 and as I read, I found myself wanting to visit again, because the descriptions were both familiar and strange all at once. I wanted to find the hidden valley and let it remain a secret all at once.
Expect a thoughtful tale of a marriage on the brink of breaking, thylacine discoveries, Tasmanian Devil research, and activism related to saving a forest giant, Pallawarra (one scene in particular made me tear up). Thank you, Jennifer - I like that as a writer, you're not afraid to follow your heart, show your hand, and test the boundaries.
December 26, 2019
Jennifer has a wonderful ability to immerse the reader into all her tales! I absolutely loved the first two books in this series, and although I loved this one also, for me it wasn't quite as page turning and captivating as the first two. Nevertheless, it was a lovely book to finish off the series. A wonderful, Australian talent.
October 4, 2019
Together with Fortune's Son and The Lost Valley, this book completes the trilogy of The Tasmanian Tales. Each book is different (at least in different eras) in the story and revelation of the Abbott family. Conservation of wildlife is a major theme in Jennifer's books and so far I have read each one of them, loved them and have been educated by them. This book, The Memory Tree, follows once more the Abbott family and their fight to conserve threatened species. I thoroughly recommend any and all of Jennifer's books and I have particularly loved the Tasmanian Tales trilogy.
October 30, 2019
Engaging, exciting, environmenral.... Scoullar has done it again. Loved it...just widh it was longer.
March 16, 2024
A well-written conclusion to a brilliant trilogy, the final instalment of The Tasmanian Tales is set in modern times, which is the only reason I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first two books, which were historical fiction, and thus right up my alley. That notwithstanding, The Memory Tree is a fitting end, linking the past to the present. A shame the trilogy didn't become a quadrilogy...
November 22, 2019
he last book in the series while not as good as the first 2 books it is still a good read about keeping the secret of where a group of Tasmanian tigers are also highlights the cancers killing the Tassie devils
May 13, 2020
I would rate it 3.5
August 18, 2022
Hoopla ebook. I really enjoyed the 1st 2 books in this series but this one was just luke warm for me. Pretty much only interested in the ending and how the series ended up
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews