The First Juniper Tree

More about the book

Over the course of a single day in Newcastle upon Tyne, two friends decide to entertain and comfort each other after one has had to quit his job. Starting on a doorstep in Fenham, Thomas Oliver chronicles the hardships of being a care worker for the elderly; describing the loneliness and the exhaustion he felt after being bullied by the other staff to his life-long friend - Hieronymus Peach. A crude and eccentric jack-of-all-trades - prone to digressions and playing the piano like a man possessed. But he, too, is nursing a sadness of his own while he listens to Thomas.As Peach catches a cigarette paper out of the wind the focus of their conversation changes. Drawn into a deeply-rooted thought he has been trying to express for a long time, Peach sets out the reasons why he believes British culture, and its citizens, needs to change from a perspective of Competition to one of Collaboration; from one of Consumerism to one of Community.Through stories and experiences from his life, Peach delves into the world of Collaboration that is already all around us; if only we were to look at life a little different. The First Juniper Tree is a part of the journey from understanding to knowing a different way of living is possible.