In the fall of 2001, two Chicago women embark on a business trip to Pennsylvania. Quinn had grown up in Pittsburgh and while visiting her childhood neighborhood, her friend, Reed, uncovers a Native American artifact that begins to affect her dreams. In the aftermath of terrorist attacks on America, patriotism is soaring with the theme, 'United We Stand.' But the artifact provides a window to a colonial tale, threading the women's journey into the period prior to the American Revolution when colonists were deciding what 'union' meant to them. The women meet fictional heroine, Maggie, who had been a student at the Moravian School for Girls and a blacksmith's wife living among native tribes at the forks of the Susquehanna River. Shamokin was a multi-national village with a farm and blacksmith shop. Europeans shared tools, farming skills and cultural ideas among several native nations, living for years in peace. When the initial violence of the French and Indian War exploded a few miles away, everyone fled. After surviving an Indian attack, Maggie writes reflective letters to her family, also seen, via the artifact, by the contemporary women. Maggie bears witness to early treaty councils and Benjamin Franklin's idea of 'united' colonies, based on the Native American concept of the value of every person in the village. She also witnesses a deep tear happening in the first fabric of America while colonial settlers try to piece together a patchwork revolution. The tear was born of prejudice, and as the modern travelers knit together their own journey, they find ties to a deeply rooted pattern of violence and bigotry in modern American culture.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Friends,
By
This review is from: A Tree on Turtle Island (Hardcover)
I read this book after a good friend recommended it, and I feel as if I have met new friends because of it. I finished A Tree on Turtle Island almost three weeks ago, yet the characters remain with me. Seclearr's writing style is so unforced and smooth and not contrived that she can easily weave her very disparate story threads together into a beautiful fabric. The fabric renders the threads and characters inherently linked, and I think this in turn allows the reader to engage with the characters and develop an immediate empathy with them. I have thought about Maggie and Swataney and Quinn and Reed almost every day and wonder what will happen next. The turtle totem is powerful and palpable, and ties the characters together and to the reader. Excellent story.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful blend of history and the search for self,
By Kim Wright (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tree on Turtle Island (Hardcover)
I loved this book. What I really found most intriguing was the historical story. I am a historical fiction reader and I have never read anything about Pennsylvania in historical fiction. Maggie's story was facinating and the historical perspective of the Native American struggle in Pennsylvania was enlightening. But the author was able to bridge the present with the past. In doing so she tells a current story which is all about walking your own path and discovering both weaknesses and strengths within yourself. The author shows a real insight and depth of understanding about the human condition and the human spirit. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Review of A Tree on Turtle Island by Sheila Seclearr,
By Moonhawk River Stone (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tree on Turtle Island (Hardcover)
As I entered the Story of Quinn and Reed and Maggie, the main characters in Seclearr's novel, I was immediately thrown back to another story which served to shape and guide my journey in life--as spiritual seeker and psychotherapist--From Bernard Nietschmann quoted in Askwasakne Notes probably 20 years ago, telling a Miskito Indian Story. It goes like this: After delivering a lecture on the solar system, philosopher--psychologist William James was approached by an elderly lady who claimed she had a theory superior to the one described by him. "We don't live on a ball rotating around the sun," she said. "We live on a crust of earth on the back of a giant turtle." Not wishing to demolish this absurd argument with the massive scientific evidence at his command, James decided to dissuage his opponent gently. "If your theory is correct, madam, what does this turtle stand on?" "You're a very clever man, Mr. James, and that's a good question, but I can answer that. The first turtle stands on the back of a second, far larger turtle." "But that does this second turtle stand on?" James asked patiently. The old lady crowed triumphantly, "It's no use, Mr. James--it's turtles all the way down." Ms. Seclearr has given us the gift of this story told through timeless eyes across history and culture. A Tree on Turtle Island powerfully, yet gently, takes the reader into web of life where we discover we are all connected here on Turtle Island. One is introduced to a new way of experiencing connection and history through the adventures of Reed and Quinn, two women in search of themselves who ultimately find that and more--that the yearning to be one's self is timeless and universal. They may differ in time and circumstance to Maggie and her family, but their struggle rings true to Maggie's journey to find herself and be true to that self, and to make peace with herself. Seclearr has created engaging and complex characters who surprise and delight with their fullness and humanity. She has undertaken the challenge to weave together several disparate cultures and themes--early Native American--Colonist, Morovian history, modern day America, issues of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, without seeming forced or contrived. This is an engaging and moving read as much for the story as for the characters for whom for this reviewer became a co-companion on the journey. Whether traveling with Maggie in the mid-1700's or traveling with Quinn and Reed today, A Tree On Turtle Island, traveled into my heart and psyche and took root. © 2002
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