This novel won so much acclaim in 2019, that I felt compelled to read it. Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize, short-listed for the Booker Prize, best novel of the year on so many lists— indeed, there is much to be interested in by this work. Structured like a tree, we read first about “Roots”; we meet the nine pivotal characters and hear their back stories; next, the “Trunk” of the story, or how the nine characters’ lives, or rings, influence one another; next comes “Crown”, or the climax; and finally “Seeds”, how all that has transpired will leave conditions for the future. It is a clever structure for the story of the significance of trees for our world, and humankind, as told through the story of these nine people.

Most central to the novel is how five of the nine people come together in California and Oregon to join forces with others to save remaining stands of old growth forests, using non-violent yet very risky means— chaining themselves to logging machinery, living in a treetop many feet off the ground, and engaging in traditional protest marches and sit-ins. Law enforcement response is increasingly violent, and some protesters are seriously harmed, including some of the five. When peaceful means are exhausted, and the movement’s leaders are killed, the five take matters into their own hands, targeting the construction of a new ski resort in a pristine wooded area with violent means, leading to the death of their most inspirational member, and the scattering of the remaining four.

Of the featured nine characters, one writes a seminal book, “The Secret Forest”, presenting cutting-edge research and forward thought about the biology of trees, their means of chemical communication, and the true nature of their underground, social, and interactive life with other species in their biome. This book shapes each character in significant ways, influencing their life choices, ambitions, and understanding of their place in the world.

While this is an ambitious work, in scope and thoughtfulness, it does not hold together and succeed for me. The stories of Neelay Mehta, designer of web-based massive multiplayer games inspired by exotic trees; or the couple Ray Brinkman and Dorothy Cazaly, a childless married couple who finally find solace and fulfillment in returning their property to a tree-filled wild state (much to the chagrin of their suburban town); these stories do not tie in easily with the main narrative. They are off-shoots, very loosely related, but feel contrived in their relation to the main thrust of the story. The resolution of Mimi Ma’s story arc, one of the five radical protesters, a former ceramic engineer turned psychotherapist who becomes tree-like for her patients, observing them in silence until they reach their critical insights, feels unsatisfactory. Douglas, another protester who was in love with her, when caught decades later for their act of “terrorism” turns in another member of the five, in order to protect her, and gain a lighter sentence for himself. We get the sense that Mimi is preparing to turn herself in, although it is unclear why she would do so, unless it is the guilt she feels over having one of the five carry the full burden of punishment.

While this is an ambitious effort, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it, as I don’t feel it completely succeeds. What I might prefer to read, however, is “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World”, by Peter Wohllenben, to gain a true understanding of current research into the largely misunderstood nature of trees. I guess the success of this book is in inspiring me to want to know more, and that my knowledge of trees merely skims the surface of their true nature. That may be success enough.