I’ve just finished a fantastic novel by Canadian writer Michael Christie, titled “Greenwood,” and in savoring the setting of this beautiful dystopian novel, I realized that I love reading fiction about trees.  

Maybe it’s growing up on a verdant, wooded lake in western New York.  

Maybe it’s experiencing a rare and all-too-fleeting serenity in retreats to the forests of Canada and California and northern Wisconsin.

Maybe the changing climate is inspiring writers to reflect on the grandeur of trees and the devastation of their potential loss and their work feels both nostalgic and urgent.

So, in the midst of a steamy summer, take respite in this trio of novels about trees.

Christie’s novel unfolds on an island north of Vancouver, called The Cathedral, where a stand of old-growth trees have survived a maelstrom of withering, dust storms and climate-induced illness.

Young Jacinda Greenwood is a guide to rich Westerners who are escaping the ravages of the warming world for a few days under the shelter of trees.  

But when a lawyer who is also an ex-lover arrives to tell her he thinks she may be the heir apparent to the island, the twists and turns begin.

The second must-read, do-not-miss novel about trees is, of course, Richard Powers’ magnificent “Overstory.”  

I’ve written about it several times, but "Overstory" is the perfect accompaniment for a leisurely summer trip.

And finally, I’m recommending Ash Davidson’s “Damnation Spring.” 

Set among the magisterial redwoods of northern California, the novel introduces us to a logging family under pressure from debts, failed pregnancies and the suspected effects of toxic pesticides.

The prose is warm and stylish and the suspense, while propulsive, never overwhelms the human drama.

— Kerri Miller | MPR News