To some degree, the trajectories of these eight characters are touched by the life work of a ninth, a plant ecologist. But we also read about the quasi-spiritual journey of a reclusive coding genius, and the less-obviously relevant story of a married couple – workers in the legal profession by day, amateur actors by night – whose significance plays out (mostly symbolically) only at the end. Their youthful endeavor to protect an old-growth forest from a clearcutting operation changes their lives irrevocably. The core plot of The Overstory pivots on five characters for whom the moniker “tree hugger” would be an understatement. A proven master storyteller, Powers has outdone himself with this epic saga about the interrelationship of humans and nature. By turn poetic, bleakly factual, thrilling, heart-wrenching, and uplifting, the book tells the tale of a group of strangers, all drawn to trees by unexpected circumstances, who come together to try and save the last remaining acres of virgin forest in North America. This sprawling, multi-branched tale is part love letter to trees and part cri de coeur about the state of the world’s forests. Anyone who has read and loved The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben’s surprising bestseller about what trees feel and how they communicate, will find much to love in Richard Powers’ twelfth novel, The Overstory.
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