Rowan Ellway is a young college president; Easter Blue, an impassioned student leader. Upon graduation, she takes a fellowship to Africa, and they lose touch. When, decades later, they meet again, they discover that their prior bond was but a rehearsal for the world stage.The Rowan Tree reaches from the tumultuous 1960s into humanity’s future, encompassing the worlds of politics, sport, ballet, … politics, sport, ballet, presidential leadership, and world governance. An international cast of characters personifies the catalytic role of love in political change.
Replete with illicit loves, quixotic quests, and inextinguishable hope, The Rowan Tree foretells a dignitarian world much as the story of King Arthur and the round table sowed the seeds of democracy.
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The Rowan tree symbolizes courage, wisdom, and protection. We meet our main character, Rowan, as a married professor climbing the career advancement ladder. His relationships go through changes as he and his wife live separately in order for each of them to pursue their careers. Rowan has a few deeply meaningful relationships with entaglements with his wife, daughter, newly discovered son, their friends and love interests, each extending the family as new characters are introduced to the constantly growing mosaic. Through it all, Rowan remains calm and accepting of what is. I’ve never read a book where so many characters act solely on personal goals and desires, oblivious to relationships or responsibilities. Is this how the characters becomes stars in their own universes? Travel alone until someone wants to orbit with you?
Interesting to look back on the 1960’s and all the political changes going on. We didn’t realize how some of these events would affect the times to come.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Had me cheering and reeling. Definitely educated and realistic, I felt like I knew, and loved, these characters. Great story!
I was interested initially, but the story kept going without really making any progress.. at about 60%, I gave up.
It wasn’t engrossing rather I kept skipping portions and never read it thoroughly.
I looked the book a lot at the beginning, until the last 20 chapters, then it just got boring with all the facts.
Distopian and hard to follow the plot.
I wrote one last month
Started out very good but turned into too much of a political forum for change; it interfered with the story, which became unrealistic even though you wanted the characters to succeed.
Until I got to the last section, I was enjoying this book. Starting with the turbulent 60s and moving through the current day–and beyond, it follows a few characters and their families through their journeys of life. But the last section? WAY too preachy and very unrealistic. But it painted an interesting picture of some of the world’s most recent crises in human relations, and is worth a read for that alone.
Misled by the publisher’s blurb, I happily downloaded this free book and was initially chugging away contentedly through the college setting in the 1960s and the discussion of social change through thte lens of the relationships. A bit further in I could have definitely done without the incest. Holding the book at arm’s length through the Adam adventures (get it? Adam? First man? Yeah…subtle, huh?) which were interesting but it was never fully developed in what he was getting from this series of experiences and relationships. And then the final third of the book was painful labor to reach the finish as the author abandoned any effort at story writing in favor of lecturing about his philosophy of dignity – nothing against his theory but it was really rammed and crammed down my throat and the whole time I kept thinking that writing classes always encourage writers to show and not tell. Maybe he missed that day…
way too preachy in the end
I read this book last year sometime. I enjoyed the story. Strong characters.
The writing was clunky. Couldn’t get interested.
Sharing a parent, passionate in career paths then politics, this book has it all. I could have done without the courting of young Marisol and As as well as the last days of Ad’s profession. However, the contribution to bringing goodness to those in need keeps the story current and constant.
Slow, I’ve laid it side
The Rowen Tree was recommended to me as a good example of character development and use of story line. These are the only reasons I finished the book. It doesn’t take the author long to introduce infidelity and all manner of illicit sexual activity without any lasting human collateral damage. The divorced couple wind up being good friends, and the single unplanned pregnancy turns out to produce the story’s hero. So, mess around all you want. Only good will come of it when it’s all said and done.
But the most troubling thing with this book is that, as I neared the end, I found myself hoping beyond any hope that it was going to suddenly transform itself into an apocalyptic story of an Orwellian one-world government, and fearing that it would not. My hopes were dashed and my fears realized when the final chapter devolved into a political advertisement for “dignity for all” followed immediately by a listing of the authors several non-fiction books on this subject — without the slightest acknowledgment for the incredible difficulty in getting one corner of a single country to buy into this fantasy, let alone the entire planet — and going so far as to suggest that the Middle East might be the first and easiest geopolitical region to buy into this idea.
Sorry, but I’m just not a big fan of fantasy literature.
The Rowan Tree is the best book I have read in a very long time. The characters are developed so well and the inner relationships among them is finely constructed. The book is heart breaking as well as life affirming. The characters are trying to make the right, ethical decisions for their lives and yet there is true, deep sadness by doing that.
Writing was just ok. Not very descriptive. The storyline was predictable.
This is an excellent read! It is extremely well researched and believable as realistic fiction. First I got frustrated by mistakes of the characters but realized how it all came together. Mistakes are human. It begins in 70s when I was on college so could relate. It brings you through current times and, uniquely tells the end (2020+) in the epilogue. You think at some point that if we could bring world leaders together in this way, we might actually realize ‘peace on earth.’