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The Trees
January 2024: Historical Mystery
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[Steeplechase][bwf] The Trees, by Percival Everett, 4 stars
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Good review. He writes wonderful stuff to make us think about our heritage and what our country (USA) has rewarded and tolerated through the years. I think his best is Wounded. Good reading and tears to you if you keep reading his stuff. peace, janz
Peacejanz wrote: "Good review. He writes wonderful stuff to make us think about our heritage and what our country (USA) has rewarded and tolerated through the years. I think his best is Wounded. Good reading and tea..."Thanks. I’ll put that one on my tbr if it’s not there already. Tears ok.
The book opens with a white family in Mississippi enjoying a family cookout. The grandmother has been troubled lately by memories from the 1960’s. She went along with a lie about a black boy, which led to him being lynched and mutilated. She tried to recant but it did no good. Soon after, a white man and a black man are both found murdered, with one holding a body party of the other. The case gets nationwide attention when the black corpse disappeared, only to appear at another murder scene the next day. The state sends in agents from the state bureau of investigations. When more murders occur, the FBI gets involved as well. A black special agents meets a 100 year old woman who has compiled records of all the lynchings and similar crimes that occurred all over the country. Normally I dislike it when a narrator reads an entire list in a book. But in this case, the narration of a list of names was very impactful. I was very moved. The ending was abrupt, but thought provoking.
107 race tags, 6 historical-mystery tags
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