The Killing Tree
Apr 4, 2009
The Killing Tree
Author: Rachel Keener
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: March, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59995-111-9
Mercy has had a hard life so far.
She lives with her grandparents, Father Heron and Crazy Mamma Rutha on Crooktop Mountain in the Appalachians.
Why does she live with them? Because 18 years ago her 14 year old Mama died giving birth to her under the tree in the backyard after her father, Father Heron, wouldn't let her in the house with the signs of sin on her - namely, Mercy.
Father Heron is a cruel, uptight Deacon of the church who lives in embarrassment of his family. A granddaughter born of sin and lust and a wife who's crazy as a loon and talks to animals naked in the woods.
Mercy has known hard times, hunger, lack of love, physical abuse... and at the same time lives in a small hidden area of land in the mountains that she sees no way out of. If you're a man you go to work in the coal mines or run away, if you're a woman, you marry the man that wants you.
One day Mercy meets a mater migrant, Trout. A rare white man doing a Mexican's job - which of course no one in town approves of.
They have a strong love for each other, against all odds and hardships. They run away from Crooktop Mountain and Father Heron, but after much struggling Mercy decides she must go home one last time to rescue her best friend from this life also. A best friend who's life is as rough as her own and who she swore never to abandon.
When they get back to the mountain..................it all goes wrong.
Read the book to find out what happens next! A very good story.
