Caleb Johnson (1)

Treeborne is an epic family saga set in Elberta, Alabama and spans a period of 80 years, beginning in 1929. The story is mainly told through the viewpoint of the Treeborne family. Janie Treeborne provides the central narrative and is the spokesperson for the majority of the book. The story begins in the present day where an elderly Janie is being interviewed about her past and the destruction of the Hernando de Soto Dam, which threatens her home on the edge of a peach orchard that has been handed down from generation to generation. Through a lengthy series of flashbacks, we discover the extensive history of the Treeborne family and how their lives were rooted and intertwined with the history of Elberta. As the stories unfold, we begin to understand why Janie refuses to leave the land she fought her entire life for, despite the threat of incoming water.

The references to peaches throughout the story were delightful and reading about the orchard was fascinating, which came about by conquistadors from Spain bringing and planting the peach trees. I enjoyed learning about the dark history of the Treeborne family and getting to know all of the quirky characters. The Treeborne’s are no strangers to hardships. We learn how Janie’s grandfather, Hugh, assisted in building the dam which held the water back for all of those years and he was determined to protect Elberta’s legacy. Hugh made strange sculptures from found objects and created wild Janie’s precious doll, “dirt boy”. Hugh’s wife and Janie’s grandmother, Maybelle, was the postmaster and had a lover, Lee Malone, an African-American who formerly owned the peach orchard, harvesting on land where he is not well received.

When Maybelle suddenly died, the town was propelled into chaos. The orchard was left to her daughter, Tammy. Janie’s aunt, Tammy, was a dreamer and had farfetched aspirations to go to Hollywood and become a movie star since she saw her first film. Tammy’s desire to clear-cut and sell the beloved peach trees prompted a young Janie to formulate a plan and kidnap her aunt, which caused circumstances the get out of hand and tore the wrong people apart. The messy, eccentric cast of characters seem like normal run-of-the-mill people but have all lived extraordinary lives.

This story has an extremely unique writing style and a vast array of diverse, lovely characters. There’s a lot to keep track of and quite a bit of jumping around between timeframes and characters within the Treeborne family and key characters outside of the family. I did get confused at times trying to piece everything together. We soar across three generations and become acquainted with each character. This story shows us how the past will always come back to the present. Overall, this is a rewarding, magical read and Johnson perfectly captures the rich Southern vernacular.… (mehr)

Janie Treeborne lives on an orchard at the edge of a small town in Alabama. The dam is coming down in Elberta and Janie is waiting for the water. While she waits, she is telling the story of Elberta to a young reporter. She tells the story of her granddaddy Hugh who built “assemblies”; his wife, Maybelle, the first woman postmaster whose sudden death throws the town into chaos; Lee Malone, who inherited the peach orchard from Mr. Prince and herself as a young girl. This is Caleb Johnson’s debut Southern novel which covers three generations made up of quirky characters. It does take some patience to keep up with the very lengthy flashbacks, first to 1929 which deals with her grandparents and Lee; then to 1958 which introduces us to the intermediate generation, especially Janie’s father, Ren, and her Aunt Tammy who spends most of her time planning to go to Hollywood to become a movie star. And, don’t even get me started on Crusoe, the little mud boy…

However, if you can hang in there for a little while, then you become invested in this story and the people living in Elberta. It’s a moving story of a town that was made and then to be destroyed by the Hernando de Soto Dam. It was no surprise to me to read in the writer’s notes that he was a big fan of Rick Bragg since his writing certainly reminded me of Rick Bragg.… (mehr)