Under the Tulip Tree review

Title:  Under the Tulip Tree

Author:  Michelle Shocklee

Ch: 29

Pg:  400

Genre:  Christian Historical fiction

Rating: 5 stars

Publisher: Tyndale House Publisher

     Under the Tulip Tree is the first book that I've read by Michelle Shocklee but it won't be my last.  I enjoyed this one even though it's a hard read.  It's a hard read in the sense that it is an emotional read about a tough subject but it's something that needs to be written about and talked about.  Lorena Rena Leland's life has changed since the stock market crash, though her family is better off than some money's still tight. So she takes a job with the WPA's Federal Writer's project, interviewing former slaves, and she meets Frankie Washington.  Rena's counting on a steady paycheck what she's not counting on is how her life is about to change and the learns she'll learn. 

 

Lena's  not the most likable character at the beginning, but the reader soon discovers that most of it stems from her growing up as a bankers daughter.  As her world expands and changes so does she.  My favorite character in the book is indeed Frankie Washington a woman who has ever reason to be bitter but instead her faith has  allowed her to truly embrace forgiveness, because you’re not forgiving them for them, your forgiving them for you, so you can be free. 

 

I've read three books in the last month that  had a WPA program as part of the plot and all set in the 1930s Great Depression and enjoyed them for different reasons, including a book about the Pack Horse librarians in Kentucky, the Civilian Conversation Corps  CCC in Wyoming, and the Federal Writer's Project and I have to say that this one about the Federal Writers Project and I have to say that all three books have me wanting to learn more about the programs. 

Under the Tulip Tree is worth the read and I recommend it to all readers though I do stress there is some tough and  hard topics as well as emotional things I strongly recommend having tissues handy.