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    The Family Tree
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    The Family Tree
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    The Family Tree
    Ebook560 pages8 hours

    The Family Tree

    By Sheri S. Tepper

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    THE ONCE FERTILE EARTH OF DORA HENRY'S CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN UNDERVALUED AND OVERDEVELOPED. NOW NATURE, APPARENTLY, HAS DECIDED TO FIGHT BACK.

    Police officer Dora Henry is investigating the bizarre murders of three geneticists. Meanwhile, strange things are happening everywhere she turns. Weeds are becoming trees; trees are becoming forests. Overnight, a city is being transformed into a wild and verdant place.

    And, strangest of all, Dora can somehow communicate with the rampaging flora.

    A potential civilization-ending catastrophe is in the making. The bearer Dora gets to a murderer--and to the truth--the more seemingly disparate events begin to entwine. And the answers she seeks today to the salvation of humankind may lie in afar distant future. . .one which is suddenly much closer than anyone imagines.

    An exhilarating and enchanting novel that deftly combines fantastic invention with insight and a social conscience, from one of the most lyrical and important voices in contemporary speculative fiction.

    THE ONCE FERTILE EARTH OF DORA HENRYS CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN UNDERVALUED AND OVERDEVELOPED. NOW NATURE, APPARENTLY, HAS DECIDED TO FIGHT BACK.

    Police officer Dora Henry is investigating the bizarre murders of three geneticists. Meanwhile, strange things are happening everywhere she turns. Weeds are becoming trees; trees are becoming forests. Overnight, a city is being transformed into a wild and verdant place.

    And, strangest of all, Dora can somehow communicate with the rampaging flora.

    A potential civilization-ending catastrophe is in the making. The bearer Dora gets to a murderer--and to the truth--the more seemingly disparate events begin to entwine. And the answers she seeks today to the salvation of humankind may lie in afar distant future. . .one which is suddenly much closer than anyone imagines.

    An exhilarating and enchanting novel that deftly combines fantastic invention with insight and a social conscience, from one of the most lyrical and important voices in contemporary speculative fiction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061976339
    Unavailable
    The Family Tree
    Author

    Sheri S. Tepper

    Sheri S. Tepper is the author of more than thirty resoundingly acclaimed novels, including The Waters Rising, The Margarets, The Companions, The Visitor, The Fresco, Singer from the Sea, Six Moon Dance, The Family Tree, Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Shadow's End, A Plague of Angels, Sideshow, and Beauty; numerous novellas; stories; poems; and essays. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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    Reviews for The Family Tree

    4/5

    50 ratings27 reviews

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    • 5/5

      Wow, this book was a great read. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.top
    • 4/5
      Oh, Tepper, how I love you. Why have I not read all of your books?

      This is, at first, a confusing bunch of unrelated stories and then suddenly, magically, inevitably it is one blisteringly good story- a story that makes one question one's essential assumptions about what it means to be human, what it means to be ethical, what it means to be good. There's a richness here that wells up slowly and almost imperceptibly, a richness that comes from top-notch writing and plotting. This is a book to be read over and over. I can already tell that once is not nearly enough- and I can't wait to go back and see what I missed.

    • 4/5
      Family Tree by Barbara DelinskyDana was pregnant having a dream when her water broke. They were prepared and scared.Hugh is on top of things and keeps her calm.She is a designer and has done their own babies room. He's from a rich family.They get a healthy baby but has some features that are from a black family.They find clues to help them solve the problem of where the black came from in their families...Her grandmother raised her and runs a yarn shop where Dana and her best friend work designing articles of clothing. They have no idea why the baby looks African American.Hugh is a lawyer and not only involves his family into paternity DNA tests but he takes on a case which involves an absent father...Love all the references when it comes to knitting.
    • 3/5
      A white couple, in which the husband comes from a very upper-middle-class family, gives birth to a black baby. The resolution is surprising to everyone. Enjoyable book especially for people interested in genealogy/family history; pretty much a women's book, I'd say.
    • 4/5
      A good story, its a little obvious, but not a bad read and its got a great cover.
    • 4/5
      This was a free kindle offer.
      I liked this, easy read that made me ponder what I would do if in a similar situation and what I really thought about bigotry, Enjoyed it and would recommend.
    • 2/5
      Don't get me started on the messages in this book which are inherently racist (and don't face up to it). A sad downturn from one of my favorite authors.
    • 4/5
      Very thought-provoking. The author forces you to put yourself in the characters' shoes, wondering how you would react in such a strange situation.
    • 5/5
      Dana & Hugh who are both white, are looking forward to the birth of their first child. When the baby arrives the complete family are surprised as the baby who is to be called Lizzie is black. This starts a whole host of emotions and questions. The questions are how could this have happened? Had Dana been unfaithful? What was Dana's background?, as she had never known her father. Hugh struggles to cope between the obvious love for his wife, the questions and his family who would rather believe that Dana was unfaithful than this as a twist of genetics.Of course, there are the twists and turns to this storyline, some of which are predictable, but nonetheless, this is an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      The first time I read this book I loved it. It was mysterious, intriguing, exciting and wonderful in places. There was an incredible revelation in the book that I did not see coming at all, which made it all the better. The themes were a little heavy handed at times, but overall it was an immaculately story. Having said all this, I expected the book to be better the second time round, knowing what I knew about the characters and eventual plot, however I didn't find this to be the case. Perhaps it was just my mood during my second reading, but I really felt that I had been overlooking flaws in the writing due to my excitement in finding out what was going to happen next. The first time I read it I couldn't put it down, the second time I was impatient for all the interesting bits to happen. Its a wonderful story, but I do think it relies on the early confusion and intrigue to pull the reader through into the second half.
    • 3/5
      A compelling story with topics ripe for discussion. However, this was not one if Delinsky's best. I felt it to be a bit amature and choppy.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books I've ever read. Following the story of Dora in the present day and Opalears/Nassif in another entirely, the two stories converge with the best twist I have never seen coming. Dora's town is being taken over by a new kind of plant, which she has an affinity for, while at the same time she is trying to leave her controlling husband. Opalears is a slave who has been sent on a journey with the Prince to the mysterious St Weel because an Evil Thing, the Great Enigma, is threatening everyone's way of life. Themes include ecology, family, tolerance, and humanism. I can't really tell you much more about it without ruining it for you, so you really need to read it yourself. Please, please read this book.
    • 4/5
      Dana and Hugh Clarke are looking forward to the birth of their first child. That day comes, but is not all they expected. Baby Elizabeth is healthy and beautiful, and darker skinned with curly dark hair that neither of her "white" parents have. Hugh is from a upper crust family. Accusations are made as to whether Dane might have had an affair with an African American or who her unknown father was. Tensions abound on all sides as they seek the truth of their daughter's heritage. A well written book examining dealing with life when the "truth" changes.
    • 4/5
      I was pleasantly surprised at how peaceful and compelling of a read I found Family Ties. Even though I found the story predictable, with the solution to the mystery being telegraphed early on, I didn't mind. This book isn't really about the mystery of how a white couple's daughter came by her visibly black features, but is about the journey of self-awareness. Characters 40 years old through 80 learn that they still don't really know themselves very well and have to come to terms with who they want to be and whether their public image and their private lives can be reconciled. Not a knitter, I really enjoyed all the scenes about knitting and the community surrounding the yarn store. I could easily envision that peacefull setting.
    • 4/5
      The Family Tree by Sheri Tepper is a book that is difficult to categorize. It is part post-plague apocalyptical tale, part romance, part fantasy/sci-fi, part eco-treatise, and partly confusing! At the same time, it was fascinating, well written, believable, immersive, and completely unique. Firstly, the confusing part: the story is written part current times, part future; in addition, the story is told by a number of different narrators (from both the past and the future) in alternating chapters. I found this so frustrating that I actually skipped many of the alternating chapters until I could work out what was going on, then went back to them. I don't recommend this, as there are some very interesting twists to the story. Stick with it...all the threads come together and make sense.Now the rest: This is a greatly enjoyable story which will likely be with me for quite some time. Believable...?! The day after I finished it I read a newspaper article describing one of the main events in the story. It is clear that a plague could easily decimate the population, and other threads in the story are just as plausible. The fantasy elements of the story are strong, but again, not too far fetched. The characters are idiosyncratic, flawed, lovely. Conversation is interesting, and the plot is fast paced. All in all, reading this book was a very unique experience and I'm glad I did.
    • 3/5
      Family Tree is about two Caucasian parents whose new infant girl shows some obviously African heritage. It's an interesting concept, but I thought the execution fell flat. There was so much emotional turmoil that was discussed, but I didn't feel any emotional impact as a reader.
    • 5/5
      This was a great book!
    • 3/5
      I loved the idea of the story ( I read a short story taking place pre-DNA testing once, with the same premise), so I was interested to see if it would have the same outcome (it did, but with a happier ending), so I knew what was coming. But some of the interesting side-stories didn't feel total resolved by the end of the book. Maybe it would have been too much to resolve each one?
    • 2/5
      Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky was in the library’s Look!Read! section and I decided to give it a shot but I found the book to be just okay. Nothing really special. The characters were pretty caricatured at the beginning, making it hard to get into. There were several interesting story lines and but the people weren’t super fascinating or thought provoking for me.It’s not really about genealogy though, its about race. “We’re all for minorities-civil rights, affirmative action, equality in the workplace-but we only ant to be white. Are we hypocrites?” {pg 149}And it takes itself too seriously because while there is some family history, the wasn’t any serious research to prove anything it said, making it a nice novel but nothing rooted in evidence.How some of the side characters were used and present for specific purposes irritated me. Saundra & Corrine for instance. Who was the book really about? Dana’s journey? Her husband’s? Or the father’s? Or the grandmother’s? I think the idea was how all the story lines went together and they were all really dealing with similar issues though they didn’t realize it, but that was not strong enough in the book for me.
    • 4/5
      The story of racism and hidden family secrets. What happens when a child, obviously with some black heritage is born of a pair of white parents. The digging in the past and the present causes some headaches and almost splits the family apart is what.I did guess some of the secrets and really while it was quite readable I felt a lot of the issues were put forward to make a point rather than be interesting. Readable but nothing I would enthuse about. Good for people who like Jodi Picoult.
    • 3/5
      I found it hard to relate to the urgent need Dana and Hugh seemed to feel to exactly pinpoint which one of their ancestors was responsible for the dark coloring of their child. Their need to point a finger at someone just seemed a little excessive to me. However this is the premise that drove the story and I have to admit I did feel a certain glee when Karma finally exacted her revenge.
    • 2/5
      I found this book boring and unrealistic. It dragged and I almost didnt finish.
    • 4/5
      One of Tepper's greats. Less anger towards mysogeny here and more focus on humankind's general respect for the world around us. I can't be too specific without spoiling certain plot devices, but this is a good read, occasionally heart-wrenching and touching, but never as heavy-handed as some of Tepper's works.
    • 3/5
      Like the movie "Island in The Sun" the book, but just not as good. It was obviosly written by a white woman and I felt the book like understanding and emotion and and realistic view at race.
    • 5/5
      What a wonderful book! Knitting, family, controversy - this had it all.Finished March 2007
    • 3/5
      The Family Tree has some of the elements you expect from Tepper - a woman married to a cold, controlling man, strange things happening in the world around her, a mystery to unravel. Thankfully, this novel doesn't have some of the more graphic violence against women that pops up in Tepper's work. The elements of this mystery become so enormously large and complicated - in fact, a little too enormously complicated, perhaps? I don't know - I don't become as involved in this novel as I do in some of Tepper's other work, for some reason, although I find some aspects of the story lovely, and very aesthetically pleasing.
    • 4/5
      This novel captivated me from first to last page. I hadn't read Tepper before and recall being very anxious to read more of her works. However, two novels later, this one remained my favorite for its ingenuity, its characters, plots and subplots. This book combines a little of everything, trees and plants which seek revenge, talking and conspiring animals on a mission to save themselves from extinction, a cast of quirky and memorable characters who spin the tale along. It's definitely a must read for any fantasy fan.