Tell It to the Trees

More about the book

If it is true that happy families are all alike, the Dharma family seems no exception. At least until the winter morning when a lifeless body is found in their yard. The corpse of Anu Krishnan, the writer who rented the back cottage. Anu had been enchanted by that remote corner of Canada among the forests, and by that family that preserved the traditions of native India, from Suman's spicy cooking, married to the authoritarian Vikram, to the stories of grandmother Akka, which the children listened to with rapt attention. Yet, perhaps it was Anu's presence in that seemingly idyllic picture that had rippled the surface of things, bringing half-secrets and half-truths to the surface. A sort of ineffable tension that even the children seemed to sense. But now it is too late for Anu to investigate. In fact, now that her corpse lies in the snow, it is precisely the moment when the tension reaches its peak, and secrets and truths press to come to light. Each member of the Dharma family will tell their version of the story. To cover for each other? Or to reveal how things really are? Was Anu's death truly just an accident, as Vikram claims? The only thing certain is that in some families there are secrets better left unspoken. Or perhaps, as they say in fairy tales, secrets better told to the trees.