Rated of 5
by Edie M. (Kennett Square, PA) The Forgetting Tree
This novel was disappointing to me in a few ways. I never had the "OMG I can't put this down" feeling that I always love in a book. I did persevere though and did find a connection with Claire. I never could bond with any of the other charters until the very end when it all came together.
Rated of 5
by Judi S. (Boyes Hot Springs, CA) The Forgetting Tree
While I liked the tone and gradual build up of tension in this book, I was very frustrated by the inconsistency of some of the characters, Claire in particular. In the first half of the story we hear the history of the Baumsarg ranch and Claire's single-minded focus on making the business profitable and keeping the ranch in the family. Even after tragedy strikes she still chooses to value the land more than her family and winds up alone rather then leave the ranch with her daughters and husband.
The second half of the book is completely out of character for the Claire we have come to know. She allows Minna (a virtual stranger) to jeopardize the ranch (after we've been led to believe that she will sacrifice EVERYTHING in her life to protect it). It just didn't feel as though Soli knew who she wanted Claire to be and the result for me was that I neither found her or her actions the least bit believable.
This would possibly make a good book-club disscussion though. I know my group would dig right into the debate over loyalty to place vs. loyalty to people.
Rated of 5
by Carol N. (San Jose, CA) The Forgetting Tree
The “Tree” is a mystifying, complex novel that focuses on two forgiveness-seeking women, Claire, the citrus farm owner, and Marie/Minna, the enigmatic and beautiful Caribbean care keeper. Their relationship is engrossing, two damaged, but powerful women each seeking endurance and survival.
With a slow start, the second part of the book really grabbed me with its complicated and haunting storyline as Minna becomes the common presence in the life vulnerable Claire. This story with its multi-layered themes was very dramatic and somewhat “spooky” and kept me reading well into the night.
Rated of 5
by Gretchen M. (Martinsburg, WV) Decide for Yourself
After reading this book I can't decide whether or not it's a story that is really believable. Although the author does a very crafted job making the reader think the events of this book could indeed happen. She attributes the decisions and events that occur to the main character, Claire, to "chemo brain" and the need to love and be loved for who she really is. But could a strong independent woman give up her lifetime's work, her home and her own daughters for the relationship with a young woman, Minna, a Haitian drifter who is hired to care for her and ultimately almost destroys her? I just didn't like the women in this book and was left with an unfinished feeling after reading it. I would like to have learned more about the demise of Claire's marriage to Forster and been more convinced that her two daughters could have been so clueless as to what was happening to their mother by only visiting her once during her treatments. There were just too many far-fetched details in this story for me to give it a better review.
Rated of 5
by Linda P. (Rockport, ME) The Forgetting Tree
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Tatjana Soli’s debut novel, "The Lotus Eaters," I waited with baited breath for my copy of "The Forgetting Tree," an intriguing and complex tale of unlikely soulmates, serendipitously brought together at a failing family citrus ranch in California. As in "Lotus," Soli enriches a complex plot with page-turning prose and dramatic detail, some of which is historic and enlightening.
This is not light reading. "The Forgetting Tree" paints an intriguing picture of a symbiotic relationship nourished by personal tragedy and the instinct to survive. The ending may leave you, as it did me, with unanswered questions, but sometimes that’s just the way life is.
Rated of 5
by Kay B. (Lake Jackson, TX) Unsatisfying Read
In The Forgetting Tree the motives of the two main women characters were difficult to relate to. While it was easy to feel sympathy for their circumstances, their continued bizarre behaviors became uncomfortable and disappointing. They weren't characters I thought about for one minute after the relief of finishing the book.
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of 5
by Edie M. (Kennett Square, PA) 
of 5
by Carol N. (San Jose, CA) 
