The Which Way Tree

Wanting to minimize the number of things I have to bring in the house, this is the right time to start reading all of the books I haven’t gotten to yet. I am so glad that I had this one, “The Which Way Tree” by Elizabeth Crook. While the “Tree” in the title and the painting on the cover probably first caught my attention, the comparisons to “True Grit” also drew my interest. An epistolary novel told mostly through the written testaments of a young Benjamin Shreve, per the order of a judge (who through these letters he befriends), he delivers much more than what he knows about a suspected criminal, making that shady character just one part of his and his half-sister’s story.

This book made me think of “Life of Pi” and even “The Jungle Book,” for the adventures with a large, wild cat. Though Samantha Shreve can only think of killing the panther that killed her mother and scarred her face, taking out an apex predator is not usually a good idea. However, this one behaves more like a domestic cat that should never be outside because it’s just killing animals for the sake of killing them, and terrorizing the people in the area. Everyone knows of this particular panther, too, because of its two missing toes, hacked off by Sam’s mother Juda. It turns out there is such a thing as a panther dog (at least in this book), which is equally single-minded in pursuing panthers, and the one that enters this story is a homely one to say the least. Benjamin’s writing has a voice that sounds so clear and true, not to mention likeable, sympathetic. I feel like I watched a movie, when I only read the book. A few particular things I liked were the descriptions of trees, and finding out what the titular which way tree means in this context. This also reflects the knowledge people needed to have in that time and place (Texas, end of the Civil War) about the natural world around them. Plus, the way Benjamin spelled Spanish words phonetically made me smile every time. I am again really glad to have received a copy of this through a Goodreads giveaway. If you are you are fortunate enough to have the means to read them, look for the ebook.