Tag: Family Secrets

Tree of Lives by Elizabeth Garden. My Thoughts and Reviews.

I’ll start by saying, this is a book that may take you a few chapters to get into to. I’ve said that about a lot of books but it’s just how some need to be to get a reader to understand what’s to come later. That being said, once you get to the guts, you get going.

I was asked if I’d do a review of Tree of Lives by Elizabeth Garden without the person doing the requesting knowing how appropriate it would be.  No, it wasn’t Elizabeth that asked. It’s a bit of a difficult book for me to put into words for a review, but I’ll do what I can and share other views. I really connected with the book. For some good and not so good reason.

Tree of Lives Front Cover
Tree of Lives by Elizabeth Garden

Here’s the Amazon Blurb:

Ruth will not be silenced. She will not be robbed of her strength. Tree of Lives is her epic story about the power of words and actions, and the legacy of violence and abuse passed down through generations — and the redeeming strength of Ruth, a singular woman who overcomes the effects of a horrific secret. A clear-eyed young artist with a promising future, Ruth is stymied at every turn by men who seek to maintain power over her. Gripping and inspiring, Tree of Lives spans the 20th century, and in following Ruth’s development, demonstrates how feisty and independent women paved the way in the fight for social equality as the decades unraveled. Ambitious and tender, at the heart of this novel is the story of one woman who made her own way with wit, grit, luck and a wide open heart.

This book is a poignant reminder of the importance of self-empowerment and the courage needed to break free from the shackles of the past. Within each of us, there is a hidden well from which we can draw our power, whether it is filled with art or any other channel of love. Overall, this is a tale that is often painful but equally inspiring. Readers with an interest in complex soul-searching into family secrets and the dynamics they forge will feel the same way.

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I’ll tell you how this connected with me. For one, I am also a survivor of childhood trauma, both mental and physical. This imprints on you and carry over into how you live your life. The choices you make. Oddly some for the good but many are more damaging than you’ll ever know unless you work at it rediscovery. Much like the main character in Tree of Lives, Ruth, art has been my outlet. Creativity.

“Luckily, art can serve as an escape hatch and a pathway to document the rawness of that tightly packed energy which seeks release. I believe that when suffering is put into words or form, the sharing of it dilutes the pain as others harmonize in that same key, and real healing can begin. Indeed, I am very gratified that Tree of Lives is used by therapists for adult patients of childhood abuse.” Elizabeth Garden

Garden uses a fictional characters to show the twist and turns of a woman’s life from the traumas to the constant work of healing.

A Therapist’s Perspective
by C. V. — Therapist, Adult Healing Center / Montpelier, France
 
Elizabeth Garden’s cathartic codex: “Tree of Lives” can open difficult wounds, but this book will also cleanse them; and help bring a troubled reader to the path of healing. (See the rest of the perspective at Amazon.

Reviews

"Despite having an unusual life, a fascinating ancestry and a lot of abuse, it is not easy to write it all down and make it as fascinating to others as it is to you. Kudos to Elizabeth Garden for her well designed structure, beautifully written scenes and to Barbara Bose for her lovely art. It goes beyond the traditional haunting 'ghost story' as her ancestor seeks redemption and relief and she comes to forgive her parents and move beyond a twisted script." Amazon Review

 

"This is a disturbing story of a deeply troubled family with horrific secrets. It’s also a story of survival and triumph. Somehow Ruth, the plucky and talented protagonist, overcomes numerous challenges, learning more about herself as she unearths her family’s history. This is a testament to endurance, hope, and success. The haunting illustrations add to the story. I googled one of the "secrets" and discovered that it's absolutely true. WOW! One wonders – is this autobiographical? True or not, this is an uplifting tale of the character’s indomitable spirit." Amazon Review

 

" I enjoyed being jolted across dreamscapes, former lives, and present actions as the story's core mystery unspools with suspense reminiscent of Hanya Yanagihara's "A Little Life"." Amazon Review David Cohen

Get Tree of Lives at Amazon.

Elizabeth Garden author of Tree of Lives
Elizabeth Garden

About the Author

I think many folks, especially artists like me, suffer from the fallout from the undiagnosed mental illness of others. For example, when I found out there was a mass murderer in my family, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Luckily for me, my artwork served as an escape hatch and a pathway to document the rawness of that tightly packed energy which sought release.

I believe that when suffering is put into words or form, the sharing of it dilutes the pain as others harmonize in that same key, and real healing can began. Indeed, my novel Tree of Lives is used by therapists for adult patients of childhood abuse.

Bigotry and its evil twin, white male domination, are woven into the fabric of the typical 20th Century American ethos on full display in my life as it is in the household of my protagonist, Ruth Thompson. Ruth’s rocky path out of the “Wildwoods” can be seen as a heroine’s journey through the invisible gauntlet of unaddressed childhood trauma.

I like to play golf. But sometimes my ball goes way off into another fairway and the rest of the journey to the cup is the arduous correction to make it to the place where I once belonged. Ruth’s life (and mine) in Tree of Lives takes a very similar tack – the journey to the happy place I had in mind, but in a parallel universe compared to everyone I know.

I am not a writer who likes to do art. Rather, I am an artist who wrote a book. I started out my career as an illustrator but learned layout and art direction in order to get a better salary — albeit always less of a salary because I was a woman and even more less because I lacked a college degree. With two babies to raise (three, counting perpetually un- or underemployed mates), I took what I could get and tried as hard as I could. As for the rest of my bio, read Tree of Lives. It’s all there.

Elizabeth Garden

Visit Elizabeth on her website: treeoflives.net