Customer Reviews

Under the Witness Tree

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When an estranged great-aunt she's never met dies and leaves Dhari Weston the ancient Grayson house outside Atlanta, Dhari is both curious and irritated. Traveling from Michigan to dispose of the old monstrosity sounds like a lot of extra work, and Dhari's life is already far too full. Her time and energy are taken up by her job as a grant-writer for an AIDS coalition, a less-than-committed girlfriend, and serious problems in her family of origin. Little does she know that she's at the crossroads of change and is about to be sorely tested by new experiences.

Erin Hughes, a professor well-versed in Civil War era architecture and history is brought in to assess Anna Grayson's house, and Dhari feels an unexpected attraction to her. Dhari also meets the elderly Nessie Tinker, descendant of the slaves who worked the land in the 1800s and who eventually became landowners and neighbors to the Graysons. Nessie served as caretaker and friend to Anna Grayson, and unbeknownst to Dhari and Erin, Nessie knows many of the secrets of the past-some of which go all the way back to Civil War times-that the two women are exploring.

Dhari is gradually drawn in to the mysteries of the old house and its former occupants, but at the same time, her wandering girlfriend and mentally ill mother back in Michigan exert pressures upon her that keep her stressed and worried. Dhari has her own secrets, and as the story is revealed, the reader gradually comes to understand the depth of her pain and the extent to which she has gone to prevent anyone from knowing about it-even her girlfriend. When she lets slip to Erin some vital details, Dhari is appalled. "She'd been first-time lucky that Erin Hughes thinks the bones in her own closet shine just as bright white as hers. Most people, however, aren't that honest. They lock their skeletons up behind propriety and self-protection and make choices that to the casual observer seem entirely normal. Just like Dhari Weston. It's the closer inspection, the one that rattles the door, that has to be avoided" (p. 103).

The ways that Dhari ends up "rattling that door" make for an engrossing read. The book itself is slight, but the issues raised and the secrets revealed make for powerful and unforgettable reading. This book was entertaining, and the way the pieces all came together was ultimately quite satisfying. Read it for the tight plot, for the mystery, for the romance, and don't miss this engaging story. ~Lori L. Lake, reviewer for Midwest Book Review and author of the "Gun" series

I bought this book and read it in one sitting. I bought it based on the blurb on the back cover: Sherman's march to the sea, an old plantation, family secrets and entanglements, the beautiful Erin Hughes, what could be better? I didn't expect to find so much in such a small package though. If I tried to list all the various plots and subplots, this review would be as long as the novel I am strongly recommending. I'm still trying to fathom how the author accomplished this.
Main character Dhari Weston has a life that is becoming too typical of us all: she is busy with deadlines at work, overwhelmed with care giving for a mentally unstable mother, over burdened with guilt and a secret fear that her mother's condition might be genetic. She has a girlfriend, but she doesn't have enough time to even speculate whether Jamie is being faithful or not. (How busy is that?) On top of everything, she inherits a Southern plantation from an aunt she never knew: one more thing to take care of. Taking time away from the job, the girlfriend who needs watching, the mother's undiagnosed but very real illness, she flies to Atlanta, determined to handle the sale of the property quickly and get back on track.
There she meets the appealing Dr. Erin Hughes, brought in to research the provenance and history of the place she inherited, and Nessie Tinker, an old friend of her aunt's, and as facts from her family's past are revealed, so is her affection for both Nessie and the lovely Erin. More complications in a too complicated life. Unwillingly drawn into the secrets from the past, including an extramarital relationship during the Civil War uncovered in diaries and letters, and reluctantly admitting to an attraction to Erin, the appeal of the old plantation, and her family's hidden background, Dhari finds herself revealing secrets of her own, facing fears, struggling to overcome them, and doing something people like her find all too difficult to accomplish: letting go of some of the responsibility for things she can't control or change. All of us should take a step back and look at what we sacrifice in our too busy lives. And we should take the kind of chance Erin and Dhari take, when presented to us.
I was born and raised in the South, and graduated with a degree in history, so I can attest to the accuracy of the research that must have gone into this work. The characters were deftly drawn, the settings believable, the plots intriguing. Only one mystery is left: how did so much get crammed into so few pages? Nessie, Erin, Dhari, Jamie, her brother Douglas, her father, her mother, especially Erin's father, even Pippin the dog, all are delightful and fully realized. As a writer myself, I have nothing but praise for the job done here by Ms. Martin. This is an excellently researched, well written, and very entertaining book.

Under the Witness Tree is a saga of love with its roots extending back to the civil war. When Anna Grayson dies and leaves her estate to Dhari Weston, a niece she has never met, she opens the window on family secrets that have been kept for over a hundred years.

Although it is being advertised here by Bella Books, Under the Witness Tree will be published by another press and is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2004.

Dhari Weston's life is rapidly descending into a vortex of romantic ambiguity, emotional chaos, and familial obligations. Just when she thought it couldn't possibly become any more complex, Dhari must now leave her home in Michigan and drive through the Georgia countryside to locate and hopefully sell the 1806 plantation which she has recently inherited from an unknown distant aunt, Anna Grayson.

Erin Hughes, a local college professor and architectural historian, is contacted by Dhari's realtor to assess the antebellum property and provide any pertinent information to help make a quick sale possible. Erin's fascination with the old house eventually extends toward its new owner. However, Dr. Hughes has her own secrets to contend with and, for the moment, is content with living the academic life free of personal commitments.

With the help of Nessie Tinker, an elderly neighbor woman who knows so much more than it appears, Dhari and Erin begin to explore the history of Anna Grayson, her house, and the mysteries of the past know only to Nessie. The lives of these three women will merge in ways none would have guessed possible. The convoluted roots of each woman's past will eventually surface, much like those of the witness tree one first sees when arriving at the Grayson plantation.

Marianne K. Martin's latest book is a most enjoyable and satisfying reading experience. The realistic and richly drawn characters are complex as well as compelling. Dhari has a life with which many readers can readily identify. Caring for an ill parent, trying to forge a committed relationship, and successfully performing one's job are all true life issues many readers cope with daily. There are no quick or easy fixes here. Dhari's journey through the course of the book will plausibly lead to conflict resolutions that are reflective of both the growth and acceptance of who Dhari truly aspires to be. Erin, too, will confront personal doubts that many in her position grapple with as they lead their lives. Her family roots, identity, and loyalties all become entangled as Erin strives to uncover the past of Grayson plantation as well as her own ancestry.

Too often the reader finds many characters in romance genre novels to be flat, static, and even stereotypical. Martin has created two engaging, intelligent, and practical women. It isn't difficult to draw parallels between these women and those whom the reader actually knows. The dialogue is straightforward and credible. There are times when the contemplative mood is minimally captured in simple a line or two. Dhari says, "You took care of me like that without even knowing me." To which Nessie simple relies, "I got all the knowin' I need." (p. 45).

The plotting is defly constructed so that the narrative flows quite effortlessly from one event to the next. Pacing is crucial when it comes to engaging the reader. Here the author offers just the right degree of foreshadowing which enables the reader to discover the necessary elements to solve the puzzle. Martin has done her research for this period in history, and the novel relects the attention to detail. The contrasts drawn between the culture and pace of Dhari's Michigan lifestyle with that of Erin's rural Georgian existance provide humor, warmth, and an insight into what is really important when living one's life. In the end the actual geography is only a secondary consideration. As Nessie says, "But ya can't know where ya are now 'less ya know where ya come from." (p. 74).

Under the Witness Tree is an evocative and adroitly composed novel which quietly draws in the reader and successfully immerses her in both the sometimes somber pre-Civil War past and the uncertain hurried present. The irony of each woman's situation serves to forge a bond among them that these indiviuals can neither avoid nor predict. This is a story of generations, the desire and the promise of those women from vastly different backgrounds carry forth into the contemporary scene of Dhari's and Erin's life. Insightful character analyses, intriguing reflections upon the past, intrinsically compelling and endearing personalities, and intelligent prose all contribute to a unique and engrossing novel. Under the Witness Tree is the sort of books that remains with you long after you have read that last page.

Great new book, and the mystery genre is done as well as the love stories and romance Martin is known and loved for. Try it, you're going to like it, your interest will be maintained, and you'll wait for the sequel - promise!
I so enjoy her books, and this was no exception.

Under the Witness Tree is a multi-dimensional love story woven with rich themes of family and the search for roots. This is a novel of discovery that reaches into the deeply personal and well beyond - into community and its emerging history. Marianne Martin achieves new heights with this lovingly researched and intelligent novel.

"Under The Witness Tree" blew me away. And for many reasons. Having lived in both regions in which this story is set, I can identify not only with the geography and cultures, but also attest to the portrayal of the attitudes of the characters. This is a story of many facets. It is a story of a young women (Dhari Weston), from the north who lives with the fear of inheriting the mental disease of her mother. And who has cultivated a satisfying yet shallow relationship, for fear that a deeper and more permanent commitment, would some day leave her partner to contend with a crazy woman. It is also a story of another young woman (Erin Hughes), from the south who was adopted as a child and who has immersed herself in the history of the American Civil War as an adjunct to the absence of her own personal history. Neither live easily in their present because one fears the uncertainties of her future, while the other is fixated on the uncertainties of her past.

At the story's beginning, we learn that Dhari has inherited an estate, the Old Grayson Estate, from an estranged aunt which includes an old pre-Civil War mansion. Dhari is at first bewildered at the old woman caretaker of the inherited estate, Nessie Tinker, who displays a willingness to remain faithful to her now a dead mistress and her desire that Dhari understand her legacy. She is further baffled later at how Nessie could be so kind and caring as she nurtures her, a complete stranger, back to health when she falls ill a long way from home.

These incidents serve to illustrate the disconnection Dhari feels with people generally. But upon meeting Erin, she finds herself reexamining those decisions and questioning herself about feelings for Erin that until now she's accepted as too perilous to consider. Erin likewise is quickly attracted to Dhari, but her gentle timidity says as much about who she is, as it does about where she's from. But in most ways they are opposites of the same coin. Erin Hughes is a professor who is knowledgeable in the area's history and has agreed to assist Dhari in evaluating and cataloguing the history of the mansion and its former occupants for the purpose of its eventual sale. Yet Erin is also quietly obsessed with finding out who her own biological parents are. To her, knowledge of one's past and one's linage is a sacrament. And she is bewildered and even irritated by Dhari's nonchalance to learn about her past and the historical role her forebears played in who she is.

Meanwhile back in Michigan, Jamie Bridgewater, Dhari's girlfriend who owns an insurance agency, has learned to accept life on its own terms and moves blithely along with it, filling each day with activity, softball, eight-ball and appointments. Dhari and Jamie for their own reasons, have welcomed this type of relationship where neither had any great expectations of the other. But the trip to Georgia seems to have changed all that for Dhari. Yet her loyalty to Jamie won't allow her to make a commitment to Erin, but still she cannot forget Grayson Mansion, nor Erin. To further complicate matters, Dhari's mother, suffering from mental diseases ranging from Manic-Depression to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and is also extremely paranoid, has almost destroyed any vestige of family cohesion. And none of Dhari's siblings are willing or capable of attempting to preserve these ties. And Dhari can't understand her father's inability to see the need for psychiatric intervention for her mother, and his apparent willingness to simply weather her mother's storms.

Likewise, Erin's own personal conflicts, the protracted death of her mother and the sudden illness and hospitalization of her father pushes her to the brink emotionally, for she fears she'll be left, once again the orphan with no answers to her past. And Dhari's faithfulness to Jamie undermines any possibility of a future together. So with their own internal conflicts and those swirling around them within their families, both seem to find respite and comfort within the walls of the mansion. For Dhari, it is where life is more predictable and where Erin's presence there is calming and welcome. And for Erin, it is her time there with Dhari where she begins to learn that the "now" may be more important than the past.

Soon, Dhari's eyes turn more southward and her continuing trips to Georgia begins to raise questions in Jamie's mind about Dhari's relationship to Erin. Dhari broaches the possibility to Jamie of relocating, but Jamie's relationship to Dhari does not appear to be that strong. Ultimately, it is the stories of Dhari's ancestral past in the form of letters and diaries written by her maternal great-grandmother and her lover, in which she and Erin discover a way to confront their fears. When they discover that they are not the first to risk all for an unlikely future. And the possibility that their lives now may be but a continuation of one started long ago.

Now all of this is pretty heady stuff. This is not simply a novel about romance. It is much, much more than that alone. Ms. Martin's story-telling abilities and her descriptions of Dhari, Erin and Nessie's feelings and mannerisms make them come alive in the most subtle of ways. The kind of ways that you notice things about people in real life. Another aspect of the story is Ms. Martin's use of metaphor. There are only a few writer's I have read which truly possess the gift to pepper their narratives with these metaphorical jewels. I constantly found myself smiling at the beauty of these phrases in "Under The Witness Tree." A few examples:

"When words like gumballs had dropped from head to mouth, wondering why she could never say anything right"

"Real love would not allow pain when it could be avoided"

"Throughout the day her mind had played bigamy with her thoughts"

"The afternoons were still pleasant, untelling of the summer heat to come"

"Emotions tumbled and twisted, trying to identify themselves"

"She knew nothing then of the need that defies all reason"

I love novels whose characters I can become engrossed in and where I must early on fight the urge to turn to the last pages and find out how things end. In this case thankfully, prudence prevailed. Toward the end of the novel, this line: "Dhari thought no more of futures or risks" said it all to me. When I thought about it, its the moral to the story of us all. To find a way to live life with the full knowledge that there are risks, but not allowing them to dominate us.

Words are our true legacy. Not the pronouncements of prophets who dictate life's rules. Nor the moralist or the existentialist perspectives which purport to explain the inexplicable or convince us there are no explanations. That legacy is found in the ability to craft words that touch and resonate within us. In those human places within us that are all too often abandoned, in our day-to-day quest to exist. Words that sometimes open up places we've forgotten and sometimes opening up new places we didn't even know we had. Marianne K. Martin knows about those places. And her story "Under The Witness Tree" is the proof.

Although I normally read the reviews here on Amazon I haven't felt the need to write one myself or to comment until now, but like other readers here I have had enough. I share Collie Girl's outrage at the unwarranted criticism of good books by accomplished authors. This kind of criticism is becoming pervasive on Amazon.com. I can only guess who these people are and why they are doing this, but I think their behavior is despicable.
Maybe a few hints would help save these "reviewers" from "wasting their money" on a book that wouldn't interest them.
First, read the description of the book and the reviews that explain clearly that this book deals with family secrets that extend back to the civil war, and if you are not interested in reading "a history lesson in herstory" then don't buy it.
Read the testimonials for the book by well-respected people like Katherine V. Forrest, who says about Under the Witness Tree that it is a "lovingly researched and intelligent novel." If you don't want something well-researched and intelligent then don't buy it.
Depending on how important your $9.71 is to you, you could take an extra ten minutes and check the Lambda Literary Foundation website. Every year they list their top five choices in each genre for the Lambda Literary Award. Under the Witness Tree is Ms. Martin's second nod as a finalist for this award.
If now you have decided to buy the book, then you should actually read it before writing a review like the one that blacklisted this book as a Xena fantasy, which Under the Witness Tree is obviously not.
If you have followed these hints before buying a book you should be able to write an honest, intelligent review. Otherwise, please don't bother.
I hope that Ms. Martin and other fine authors who have been similarly victimized by cruel "reviews" understand that they have readers who appreciate their work. We "get it" that it takes talent and discipline and careful research to write a book like Under the Witness Tree.
If you would enjoy a wonderful love story drawn from "civil war secrets that won't lie easy" then don't miss this one!

I had very high expectations for this novel as it was a Lambda Literary finalist and deservedly so. Much more than a romance it's the story of many different people with a variety of issues that by the end of the novel you end up knowing as you do your own friends. Believe the other reviews, this should be on your must read list. I've read it twice now and enjoyed it even more the second time. Perfect for a lazy afternoon or evening.

Book Description

After inheriting an old plantation house from an aunt she didn't know existed, Dhari Weston heads 800 miles south to see the place and meets intriguing Dr. Erin Hughes, a local history professor with a passion for old houses. Dhari's life is complicated enough without meeting such an attractive and intelligent woman: Her mother needs her, her father relies on her and her girlfriend worries her. But when Erin finds old letters and a diary, Dhari knows she can't leave until she finds out the truth .

I suppose some reader who wants War and Peace and instead gets a lesbian romance might be churlish enough to give this book a bad rating, but I fouund Under the Witness Tree to be one of the best lesbian romances I've read in a long time. The characters have real lives with real problems, and like real life sometimes a door opens and in walks the miracle known as love. Martin's characterizations are deft and well done and the history she weaves into the story is both fascinating and serves the story in ways that are subtle and touching.

If you want Middlemarch or Emma, please go read those books. But if you want a love story that's a pleasure to curl up with for an evening or two, Under the Witness Tree is an excellent choice.