Far From the Tree [Hardcover]

Virginia DeBerry (Author), Donna Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

Celeste English and Ronnie Frazier are sisters, but they couldn't be more different. Celeste is a doctor's wife, living a perfect and elegant life. But secretly, she is terrified: her marriage is falling apart and her need to control the people around her threatens to alienate her entire family. And Celeste allows no one to see how vulnerable she really is. Ronnie is an actress, living in New York. Her life, however, is a lie: she has no money, has no home, and her life is held together by "chewing gum, paper clips, and spit," though she wants everyone to think that her life is one of high glamour and budding fame. When their father dies, the sisters inherit a house in Prosper, North Carolina. Their mother, Della, is adamant that they forget about going there and dredging up the past. Because Della has secrets she'd rather not see come to light-secrets and heartbreak she's kept from everyone for years. Neither Ronnie, Celeste, nor Della realize just what their trip to Prosper will uncover and they must discover for themselves who they really are, who they really love, and what the future holds for them. FAR FROM THE TREE is a novel that asks the questions: can the past ever truly remain hidden? Can mothers and daughters put aside their usual roles long enough to get to really know each other? Long enough to see they each have felt the love, loss, heartache and joy that they share as women. And can two strangers realize that they are, and always will be, sisters?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Strong, colorful characters distinguish DeBerry and Grant's (Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made) warm and moving African-American family drama. When Will Frazier dies, his family gathers for the funeral in Buffalo, N.Y. Della, his grieving wife, is overwhelmed by memories. Celeste, the Fraziers' bossy eldest daughter, is driving away her husband and their 23-year-old daughter, Niki, with her controlling behavior. Younger Frazier sibling Ronnie, a struggling actress, is desperate to hide her hand-to-mouth existence from the family. Will has deeded a house in Prosper, N.C., to his daughters; a few months after the funeral, just as their lives are about to bottom out, they decide to inspect the place before they sell it, despite Della's protests. The house, it is eventually revealed, once belonged to Della's biological father, who took in 10-year-old Della (who was born out of wedlock) when her mother died. As Celeste and Ronnie explore the town in which their mother grew up, Della's story unfolds. Tormented and sexually assaulted by her violent half-brother Henry, teenage Della, a talented singer, finally finds happiness with Lester, an ambitious amateur performer. Lester leaves for the city and promises to send for her, but when Della must suddenly flee for her life after Henry accidentally kills their father, she loses touch with Lester, eventually moving to New York and marrying his friend, Will, in 1957. In the present day, Della joins her daughters in Prosper when Ronnie falls ill and finds unexpected comfort from the friends she'd left behind, just as her daughters confront the realities of their lives. Although the narrative ends abruptly and predictably, the story otherwise moves gracefully between the 1950s and the present day, and an unusually varied cast of minor characters add spice to the full-bodied tale. 150,000 first printing; author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Della Frazier and her two middle-aged daughters, Celeste and Ronnie, are in crisis. Della's husband has just died; Celeste's marriage is crumbling; and Ronnie, pursuing an acting career in New York, becomes sick and destitute. While cleaning out their father's home office, Celeste discovers that he has left her and Ronnie a house on 45 acres of land in Prosper, NC. Della fights hard to prevent her daughters from visiting the house and town that she had vowed at age 18 never to set foot in again. This novel has a seamless, omniscient narrative voice. The major theme here is the importance of facing up to the past and the present even though it may be painful. YAs will relate to the childhood and teenage years of the three main characters and see the bittersweet relationships among them. Young women in frequent conflict with their own mothers will also identify with Celeste's 23-year-old daughter when she fights against her mother's attempts to control her life. Those who are dreaming of a career in the enter-tainment industry will be interested in Ronnie's story, as well as the early musical careers of Della and her first boyfriend.-Joyce Fay Fletcher, Prince William County Library System, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: St Martin's Press; 1st edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312202911
• ISBN-13: 978-0312202910
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,122,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRAVO! BRAVO!, September 29, 2000

By 

"dst4lyfe" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far From the Tree (Hardcover)

If I could give this book a 10 I would. This to me was better than 'Tryin to Sleep...'. I totally enjoyed this book from the first page to the last. Della had a life before her daughters came into the world and she definitely wasn't finished living by any means. Ronnie and Celeste thought they had seen it all until they came to Prosper, NC. This book was like 'Soul Food' with better twists and turns and more drama. I cried and cheered at the end that the family came together. It is amazing what communication between family members can do and what harm secrets can create. I hope that every mother and daughter can read this book and get something from it. I too am beginning to realize that my mother and grandmother were women on their own at one time and it is nice thing to know my mother as a woman and not just "Mommy". So, if you are looking for a soul searching book, I highly recommend Far From the Tree. As Virginia and Donna say, we never really fall that Far From the Tree. Enjoy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mother/Daughter Must Read!, September 30, 2000

By 

D. LEE "dml48221" (Palo Alto, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Far From the Tree (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully written story about the relationship between two sisters, Ronnie and Celeste and their relationship with their mother, Odella. The story opens immediately following the death of the father/husband Will. The central theme of the novel is how at some point in our lives, we all try to hind from the individuals to whom we are the closest and what happens when we are forced to reveal what we have tried so hard to hide.

In this story, Ronnie tries to hide the fact that she is not an up and coming model/actress as she wants and leads her family to believe. Celeste, tries to hide the fact that she is not as wealthy as she wants and leads people to believe. However, the crux of the story lies with the secrets held by the mother Odella and the experiences she had while growing up in North Carloina. A trip to the attic to clean out the fathers personal belongings takes these women on a journey which is mysterious to the daughters, painful for the mother and casts the much beloved yet deceased father in somewhat of an unfavorable light at least as far as his daughters are concerned.

A trip back to North Carolina causes these women to explore themselves, come face to face with the past and its demons and come out on the other side more knowledgeable and as better people. This novel is fantastic and makes you wonder what secrets our parents hold, not as parents but as people. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Tightly Written Book ... Don't Sleep On it!!, January 9, 2001

By 

Ms. O "landa324" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far From the Tree (Hardcover)

I am FEELING this book!! I really LOVED this book. It's about Ronnie and Celeste (sisters), their mother (Della) and Celeste's daughter (name escapes me) and their relationship with each other. The death of the father brings them together at the beginning of the book. The sisters find out that they own land in Prosper, North Carolina, which is where their parents are from. The mother refuses to talk about her life in Prosper, so the sisters are forced to go to Prosper with intentions of selling the land. Something brings the mother to Prosper and together with the sisters, all three are forced to face the reality of who they really are and why each of them is miserable. The characters were SERIOUSLY flawed and their lives weren't happily ever after at the end of the book - more so on the road to recovery. This book is tightly written! Drama starts from page one and continues up until the very end. I found myself hating the book to end.... Don't miss out on this book....