Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Greenwood

This book is fantastic but MAN where are the Indigenous people? The absense didn't make sense to Canadian history or climate action culture.

"Because there’s nothing like poverty to teach you just how much of a luxury integrity truly is."

"What is nature exactly, Willow?...Is one of my reclaimed wood tables Nature? Am I nature?"

"Whenever she tells the story of the cyclone...she will puzzle over how to properly describe the sound it made as it ate through her library. She'll grapple with how one could possibly capture precisely the sound of ten thousand books drawn up into the air and scattered for hundreds of miles. And it won't be until years later--long after the Depression ends and poor people stop riding the rails...and long after she's able to again venture into that section of her field where they planted the windbreak of maples together, trees that have only thrived ever since. And long after the void he left in her life entirely heals over--only then will she arrive at a suitable answer: they sounded like birds."

"So know this: your father loved you with everything he had. He just didn't have much left."

"Time, Liam has learned, is not an arrow. Neither is it a road. It goes in no particular direction. It simply accumulates—in the body, in the world—like wood does. Layer upon layer. Light, then dark. Each one dependent upon the last. Each year impossible without the one preceding it. Each triumph and each disaster written forever in its structure. His own life, he can admit now, will never be clear, will never be unblemished, will never be reclaimed. Because it is impossible to ungrow what has already grown, to undo what is already done. Still, people trust the things he’s built, and there is something to that. It’s not enough, but it’s what he’ll take with him."

"What if a family isn't a tree at all? What if it's more like a forest? A collection of individuals, pooling their resources by intertwined roots, sheltering each other from wind and weather and drought... what are families other than fictions? Stories told about a particular cluster of people for a particular reason. And like all stories, families are not born, they're invented. Pieced together from love and lies and nothing else."

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feathery's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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oceanxbluess's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I've found so many forever favourites this year already, and my luck didn’t run out when I recently read Michael Christie’s ‘Greenwood’.

Spanning over 120 years the book is structured like the concentric growth rings of a tree and focuses on 5 of the most pivotal rings in Greenwood history - giving the term ‘family tree’ a whole new definition.

The Greenwood family, as their surname suggests, are all in some way or another connected to trees - whether that be through logging, carpentry, dendrology, tourism or activism.

We flick from 2038 where ‘The Great Withering’ - the wave of fungal blights and insect infestations caused by climate change - has wiped out almost all of the world's forests and people around the globe are dying from a new cough-inducing strain of tuberculosis caused by the increase of dust storms, all the way back to 1908 where the logging industry was just beginning to find its feet.

Trees became a luxury, only affordable for the richest members of society, with Greenwood Arboreal Cathedral open for pilgrims, celebrities & billionaires to spend some valuable time with one of the last remaining forests in the world - although most of them just want to take a selfie in the trees to post to their socials..

Christie’s writing completely blew my mind. The story is structured in such a unique & apt way, and the details are absolutely insane! It was so easy to become invested in each and every character, learning so much about each of their lives with SO MUCH DETAIL. I adored every character.

This is what I would class as a climate fiction book, but the story comes incredibly close to our reality right now (as do most in this genre). Of course many of us have been aware of the detrimental effects of climate change across the globe for a while now, and with temperatures reaching 40C for the first time in the UK this week, it is becoming harder and harder for people to deny & ignore.

This is definitely one for fans of The Overstory. I also kept thinking of Once Upon A River whilst reading this, finding familiarities in how incredible the storytelling is.

This multigenerational, pageturner of a climate fiction book is a must-read and has definitely made it into my top 5 reads so far this year, and claimed a spot on my forever shelf.

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hmatt's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This one snuck up on me. At the start, I maybe expected the story to stay more in the speculative future and stick to that genre, but it really is much more historical fiction than anything.

It starts slower than I usually enjoy, but the characters really grew on me. I wasn't expecting the depth in the characterizations and the nuance within each character's storyline.

Imagine my joy at the low-key queer storyline AND how it resolved to be not-quite-as-tragic-as-it-could-have-been!

While I agree it was a necessary inclusion, the only character I couldn't quite connect with was Lomax.

The writing style plus the Canadian-centric setting really reminded me of Emily St. John Mandel, except perhaps more developed with a better plot than most of her work (sorry, I love her writing, but Station Eleven is a clear outlier when it comes to a solid plot).

I know this is a book that I will read again - I'm sure it's one of those ones where you notice so many more little details on the re-read. And I love that there's a book club kit for it (that has recipes).

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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adventurous informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Title: Greenwood
Author: Michael Christie
Genre: Historical Fiction/Climate Fiction
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: September 24th 2019

T H R E E • W O R D S

Atmospheric • Mesmerizing • Extensive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Greenwood is a multi-generational family saga spanning more than a 100 years, running parallel to a story about trees, a continuous metaphor for the constant weathering and survival that is life. A story packed with secrets, growth and sacrifice that dives deep into the meaning of family, and shines an ever needed light of climate change, it's one of the books that will stay with you long after the final page.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I am so pleased to see this novel as the @readcanlit January 2021 selection, otherwise I may have never picked it up! I had received wonderful feedback from several trusted sources, but each time I read the blurb, I couldn't phantom it being a book for my taste. Now after having read it, I'll gladly admit it was nothing like what I was expecting, and I continue to struggle to put my thought into words. Michael Christie has delivered a timely literary masterpiece!

Greenwood is my first dip into climate fiction, and I must say I am impressed with this genre blending novel! I originally thought the structure was confusing, but came to understand it was a beautifully woven aspect for a novel centering around trees, mirroring its concentric rings. There were so many astonishing metaphors sprinkled throughout between life and nature. It delves deep into the roots of what makes a 'family' a family, and explores how branches of a family tree aren't always so straightforward. There was so much to love, and every time I put it down my mind kept coming back to it, however, I did find it an extremely slow build and long book. At times I had difficulty keeping track of the characters and the different timelines, and for that reason alone I couldn't give it full stars. At the end of the day, books, trees, and families all have their own story to tell.

Greenwood is certainly worth your time and I would recommend it to everyone. To be honest, I'm not sure you want to miss this one! More specifically to anyone who appreciates nature, enjoys a good multi-generational family saga, is looking for a great Canadian read, and/or enjoys historical fiction or climate fiction. I can also attest it makes a wonderful choice for book clubs!

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• everyone!
• nature lovers
• book clubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"How intimately a book is related to the tree and its rings, she thinks. The layers of time, preserved, for all to examine."

"No, her son is not hers alone. He descends from many bloodlines. Or, more precisely, he descends from the one, great bloodline: born of the Earth and the cosmos and all the wondrous green things that allow us life."

"Everett turns back to regard him and places his hands on Liam's head. 'There aren't any normal lives, son. That's the lie that hurts us most.'"

"People can adapt to anything, as long as it is necessary. And though she's been turned out of her Eden, she's leaving with a story. Only a partial story, it's true, but as far as she can tell, that's the only type there is."

Content Warnings

linesiunderline's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Greenwood is one of those rare books that many avid readers covet - where the writing is gorgeous, the construction of the story nearly flawless, with a just right balance of character driven and plot driven narrative, all combining to give you that “I don’t want to stop reading but I also don’t want this book to end” feeling.

The structure is beyond clever but without any of the eye-rolling, show-offy quality that some books with unusual structures inspire. We meet many characters in stories that nest one inside the other beginning in 2038, moving back in time to 1908 and back out again to end where we began. With each jump back in time we meet different members of the Greenwood clan and the people they love and save and flee from. Just about every stop in time was as compelling as the others. Impressive.

So it’s a saga about a family whose history is intimately tied to the woods. It’s also about the destruction of old-growth forests and the environment at large and the ways in which humanity creates, ignores, justifies, mourns, and might stop that destruction.

There’s hope in this story. But not so much that you’d find it false. It’s cautionary and completely absorbing. I could read whole novels about each one of the main players. A true beauty of a book.

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