Tree Soldier [Kindle Edition]

J.L. Oakley (Author)

Book Description

"A masterfully wrought masterpiece that both instructs and inspire."

"A compelling story set in Western Washington during the
Depression."


One mistake can ruin a life. One mistake can transform it.

A government forestry camp set deep in the mountainous forests of the Pacific Northwest might not seem the likely place to find redemption, but in 1935, Park Hardesty hopes for just that.

Blaming himself for the fiery accident that caused his brother's disfigurement and the death of the bootlegging woman he loved, planting trees, building bridges and mentoring tough, homesick New Jersey boys brings him both penitence and the renewal of his own self-worth. When he wins the love of Kate Alford, a local naturalist who envisions joining the Forest Service, which allows only men, he also captures the ire of a camp officer who refuses to let her go. Just when he is ready to seek his brother's forgiveness, he is falsely accused of rape. Every aspect of his life he has tried to rebuild is put in jeopardy. In the end, the only way he can defend himself is to tell the truth about his brother, but he risks being kicked out of the camp. Worse, he could lose Kate's love forever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Oakley constructs this rugged romance with tremendous care, fully developing its characters, particularly the honorable Hardesty, and building moments of tension in an engaging and entertaining novel.

~PW Select January 2012

...the characters are complicated and convincing, and the overall narrative is solid, providing a nice balance of macho rough-and-tumble, romance, and period detail. I'm always glad to see more Northwest-based fiction, and "Tree Soldier" is well worth reading.

Barbara Lloyd McMicheal for the Bellingham Herald, December 26, 2011.

From the Author

Janet Oakley is an award winning writer who has published personal essays in Cup of Comfort ranging from the dreams of four generations of women in her family to doing drywall after the sudden loss of her husband. "Dry Wall in the Time of Grief" was the top winner in non-fiction at Surrey International Writers in 2006. Her articles on Washington State history are at Historylink.org. Her novels The Jossing Affair and Tree Soldier were finalists at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association lit contest.
An historian and educator, she has taught everything from splitting shakes to making butter to 3rd graders at a cabin in the woods, researched the life a 19th century West Coast bark and hiked across Haleakula Crater on Maui twice, ignoring the pain the next day going down 10,000 feet to the ocean below. She loves gardening and eating the fruits of her labor. Lately, she planted flax to figure out how to ripple, ret, scutch, and hackle it. The linen yarn may be too rough for weaving, but it's the journey that counts.
She lives in the Pacific Northwest and writes every day. No matter what.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 520 KB
• Print Length: 370 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1453896473
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004C44F0Q
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,108 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tree Soldier Heartfelt Hit November 23, 2010

By Margaret H

Format:Kindle Edition

Tree Soldier is not only a factually accurate account of an often-forgotten piece of our shared American heritage, but in addition, Author Janet Oakley has crafted characters that are at once believable and real. This reader will forever be enamored of key figure Park Hardesty. Tree Soldier has an enjoyable pace that moves along smoothly. And the ending is simply a feel-good experience done exceptionally well.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding redemption in the forest: New Deal tree soldiers in the Pacific Northwest December 7, 2010

By Mexall

Format:Kindle Edition

Historian and writer J. L. Oakley has crafted a compelling story set in Western Washington during the Depression. Underfed youths escaping the poverty of Eastern cities for a job with the Civilian Conservation Corps face an unfamiliar landscape and sometimes hostile locals. Under the leadership of Park Hardesty, "Joisey Squad" eventually finds respect and satisfaction in performing hard and sometimes dangerous work. Park is seeking a more personal redemption, and his search leads him to the love of his life.

Oakley creates the period with authentic details, like the slang the Corpsmen use, but her exacting research -- she interviewed several surviving CCCers -- does not get in the way of a rousing tale with well-developed characters.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read January 29, 2011

By Monica W.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a great book that I really enjoyed reading. I'm originally from the Pacific Northwest, and it brought back memories of living there, and visiting my grandparents who lived in the middle of twenty acres of woods. You could almost smell the pine when reading.
The characters were interesting, and I liked that even though this story was in the past, there was a strong female character who really knows what she wants in life.
A quick and enjoyable read and I hope to read other books by this author.

More About the Author

JL Oakley grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, listening to her mother's stories of life in early 20th century Idaho. Several of them were about the boys from "New Joisey" occupying a side camp up the creek from her uncle's ranch. Desperate boys from back East, they were members of the Civilian Conservation Corps doing reclamation projects in the rugged area of the Salmon River. From these stories came TREE SOLDIER, set in 1930s in the North Cascades Mountains of Washington State.

TREE SOLDIER won best historical fiction in the 2012 EPIC eBook Awards and the grand prize (August 14 2012)at Chanticleer Book Reviews. It is a Bellingham Reads (Bellingham WA) and Everybody Reads (Asotin County Library & Lewiston, ID for November 2013!

A long time resident of Bellingham, Washington, Oakley's award-winning essays have appeared in the Cup of Comfort series. Her historical writings have appeared in various magazines, anthologies, and other media including Historylink.org. She presents historical talks and workshops on 19th century folkways and in 2006 was the project coordinator for a History Channel grant.

Her interview about the CCCs can be seen on the Author's Hour on Washington State Public Affairs TV. For the next two years she'll be a speaker for Washington State Humanities, speaking on the CCCs in that state from 1933 to 1941.

"In this action-packed, emotionally charged historical novel titled Tree Soldier, J.L. Oakley takes us back to the era of the Great Depression...Tree Soldier will draw you in and keep you turning the pages."