Tell It To The Trees

Tell It To The Trees

by Anita Rau Badami

The novel opens with the discovery of a body in the snow outside the family home.  It is Anu, the tenant from the cottage behind the house.  How did Anu come to this terrible end?  What was she doing outside so woefully underdressed in a blizzard?  So begins a dark tale about a family with many secrets.  

The story is told from the perspective of different family members.   Suman is the long-suffering wife who is isolated from the world.  The family home is in the middle of nowhere, she doesn’t drive, and her husband, Vikram, carefully controls the finances.  Hemant is their young son – innocent and yet practically tethered to his older stepsister, Varsha.  She is 13 and terrified that her stepmother will leave her as her first mother did.

Anu’s journals tell her side of the story.  She sees a family in crisis but can’t quite unlock their mysteries. 

As the tale unfolds, what seems to have been a terrible accident transforms into something far more sinister.