Under the Tulip Tree

 

There has never been a book that speaks to the healing that needs to come in this particular time of history as Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee.   On Lorena Leland's sixteenth birthday, the world as she knew it came to an end with the stock market crash.  In the following years, Lorena worked at the newspaper until there just wasn't a place for her there anymore.  Her former editor showed her a letter stating that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) wanted writers for the Federal Writers Program (FWP) to interview former slaves and write down their stories.  

The first person on Lorena's list is Frankie Washington, a former slave who had reached the ripe old age of 101.  She remembers more about being a slave because that is how she grew up.  As Frankie tells her story, Lorena becomes emotionally bonded to Frankie, and outraged at the treatment the blacks (Negroes, as they were called then) received simply because of the color of their skin.  

I've never read a book by Michelle, but this one is a great introduction to her writing.  Her characters are entirely believable: some are likable, some are not, but the reader needs to feel the gamut of emotions toward the characters to get a full feeling for the book.  Her settings are spot on for the times and the places.  Her research is thorough and well-presented. According to her after-notes, there was a project to write down the slave stories and they are housed in the National Archives. 

It is a five star book with two thumbs up and a story written down to never be forgotten. 

Tyndale House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.