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Daytime Discussion: “Under the Tulip Tree” by Michelle Shocklee
June 21, 2021 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
FreeIn June, we’ll be reading “Under the Tulip Tree” by Michelle Shocklee. We’ll meet at a private residence on Monday, June 21 at 1pm. Register for this program by e-mailing gdelcegno@biblio.org. (In the event of rain or excessive heat, the discussion will be postponed to the following Monday, June 28 at 1p.) Please call the Library at 860-582-3121 to make arrangements to pick up the book at the Circulation Desk or through curbside.
“Under the Tulip Tree” is also available as a downloadable audiobook, here: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/13596829 and ebook here: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12982610
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena. As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?