The Shade Tree

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Winner of the Alberta Book Award for FictionWinner of the Guernica Prize“Mesmerizing, engrossing, and brilliantly plotted, this is an achievement that will echo long after the last page is turned.” Editors' Choice, Historical Novel SocietyWhen the lies of thirteen-year-old Ellie Turner cause a Black man's lynching in Florida, her younger sister Mavis begins to question the family's long-held beliefs about race. Set against the backdrop of some of America's most turbulent historical events, The Shade Tree is a dramatic exploration of racial inequality. Two white sisters and a Black midwife find their lives inextricably linked through a series of haunting tragedies; they must make life-changing decisions about where their loyalties lie: with their biological families or with a greater moral cause. From a Florida orange grove in the 1930s 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.