October 2021 - Theresa Shea, Author

Review: The Shade Tree, Earthly Abode

“I will begin my review of The Shade Tree by talking for a while about To Kill A Mockingbird, because I find it difficult to review the former without first mentioning the latter. Many of you have heard of Harper Lee’s award-winning novel; some may even have studied it in school, like I did. It’s set in the south of the States in the 1930s and discusses the themes of racism and class through the eyes of a young girl named Scout, watching and learning of the prejudices rampant in her small town.

How well it discusses race, though, is a question with different answers depending on who you ask. On the one hand, it’s a good thing that it talks about race in the first place: prejudice and antiblackness make up a good portion of the plot, with the characters cleanly divided between the good – those who aren’t racist – and the bad – those who are.”

Review: The Shade Tree, 49th Shelf

Winner of the 2020 Guernica Prize for Literary Fiction

When the lies of thirteen-year-old Ellie Turner cause a black man’s lynching in 1930s Florida, her younger sister Mavis begins to question the family’s long-held beliefs about race. At the same time, the novel focuses on the courageous story of Sliver, a black midwife whose love for her grandson forces her to flee to Washington DC with the child, and Mavis, in tow. As the novel progresses through the decades, the lives of the three women merge and troubling family secrets are revealed.

The Shade Tree is a dramatic exploration of racial injustice and conflict set against the backdrop of some of America’s most turbulent historical events. The lives of two white sisters and a black midwife are inextricably linked through a series of haunting tragedies, and the characters must make difficult, life-changing decisions about where their loyalties lie: with their biological families or with a greater moral cause. From a Florida orange grove to the seat of power in Washington, DC, during the height of the civil rights movement, The Shade Tree tells a sweeping yet intimate story of racial discrimination and the human hunger for justice.

Under the Cover: The Shade Tree

From “All Lit Up”

“It wasn’t until adulthood that author Theresa Shea learned that as a child she had attend the March on Washington with her mother and been present for Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic speech “I Have a Dream.” Out of this moment comes Shea’s novel The Shade Tree (Guernica Editions), the story of two white sisters growing up in the Jim Crow south and a black midwife—all of whom must make life-changing decisions about where their loyalties lie: with their biological families or with a greater moral cause.”

Month: October 2021