Why the Tree Loves the Ax: A Novel

Authors: Lewis, Jim
Publisher: Crown
BISAC/Subject: FIC044000, FIC030000, FIC019000
ISBN: 9780307805591, Related ISBNs: 030780559X, 0609601091, 9780307805591, 9780609601099
Classification: Non-Fiction
Number of pages: 276,
Audience: General/trade
Synopsis: After an astounding debut with his novel Sister, Jim Lewis once again proves his remarkable talent with Why the Tree Loves the Ax.

Caroline Harrison is a young woman drifting across the country from a secret past to an uncertain future. Stranded by accident in a small Texas city, she decides to settle down and stay, only to have her peace destroyed by a moment of inspired fury. From there she's on the run, to New York City to confront her ex-husband, and then upstate, where she lands in a small house in the woods inhabited by three men and an eight-year-old boy—a tiny criminal community. But will they help her or hurt her? And what exactly are they scheming?

This is a story of female violence, fear, and resourcefulness. It is a meditation on identity and memory. Lewis's writing is deft and haunting, and the story establishes a new model for women's narrative. Why the Tree Loves the Ax is sure to put Lewis in the pantheon of important young American writers.
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