The Trees of Eden

by Linda Dorrell

Fleming H Revell Co; (February 2004)
ISBN: 0800759206

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Wren Birdsong dreams of her own little paradise; becoming a learned woman and ushering in the women's right to vote to Bethel Creek, South Carolina, in 1918. She yearns for high adventure and exotic travel, and she wants to bring her backwards town into the twentieth century. Her mother, however, has other ideas. Huldah believes Wren should follow in her footsteps as a student of the Bible and of herbal remedies. As Huldah obsessively tries to re-create the famed trees of the Garden of Eden, Wren grows ever more resentful. It seems that nothing could reconcile these two women going in very different directions. That is, until violence, the great flu epidemic of 1918, and death rock Wren's soul, change her world, and lead her to a quest for her true purpose in life. (c) back cover, The Trees of Eden, Linda Dorrell, 2004

Linda Dorrell has the ability to tell unique, haunting stories that stick with you for some time like eery images that float beside you and catch your attention out of the corner of your eye. This author is not afraid to deal with some pretty grim and serious issues such as death, rape and mental illness. While she doesn't have her characters responding to such issues in a perfect way, they do exhibit some sensitivity to a person's experience of such issues. The fact that she is brave enough to deal with these types of "forbidden" illnesses through her Christian fiction is a sign of true acceptance and illustration of brotherly love. Okay, okay. Enough accolades for the author just for weaving a few personally "hot" issues such as mental illness throughout this novel.

How many of you are tempted to put the book down since I've described mental illness and rape as a major issue in this book? Hmmm. Guilty? I would have been at one point in my life too. If you are, then perhaps this is just the book for you. Then again, it is dark and mysterious enough to be really disturbing. This is not a "poster book" for mental illness after all. However, it is a thought-provoking novel that will make you think and feel things you might normally stay away from.

If there is one thing that people are familiar with it is the pain from loss of loved ones. Christians are not excluded from this experience either. We do, however, have the hope of seeing our loved ones again in heaven. People deal with the loss very differently. Huldah Birdsong deals with sickness and death all the time in her medical practice. One would think she'd be immune to it or have developed a method of coping in the very least. When it comes to her own loved ones, she reacts in a manner which serves to distance everyone from her even more - the living as well as the dead. Is it the fear of death that causes her to love less or is it because she loves so deeply that she withdraws for fear of untold pain. Where is God in this woman's life? Then there is Thracia with her uncanny ability to always be present when Wren is in need. There almost seems to be some sort of "other-worldliness" about her. I often wondered if there wasn't something a little off, as in New Age-like, about this book. (Keep reading if you find yourself asking the same question). Why is Wren so patient with her mother - especially near the end of the novel? Why is she so accepting of her father's decisions to leave the family? These are some of the questions you will find yourself asking as you ponder these women and their choices in this novel.

If you're looking for something off the straight and narrow and into a different, truly unique, arena - this is it!