The Tree House

”And now listen carefully. You in others – this is your soul. This is what you are. This is what your consciousness has breathed and lived on and enjoyed throughout your life – your soul, your immortality, your life in others. And what now? You have always been in others and you will remain in others. And what does it matter to you if later on that is called your memory? This will be you – the you that enters the future and becomes a part of it.”
--Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

As a young boy, Max lived next door to Ada. They were the best of friends, spending long hours together in the tree house her father had made, they created a world of their own, where they lived together, creating their own spells, a book of spells kept safely away from the eyes of others, spells to keep the problems of the world at bay. From the ages of eight until they were eleven they were inseparable.

But Max is no longer a young boy, and when his grandson comes to visit him, Max finds himself sharing his story, or their story. The story of Max and Ada, living in Paris as the years of the Holocaust are unfolding. Max, whose mother abandoned him as an infant, knows little about his heritage, Ada is Jewish, and as the environment grows more hostile to Jews in France, eventually Ada and her family, after enduring degradation after degradation, are forced to leave.

His grandson Mark has his own story to tell, as well, failing to show support to the women in their life is a bond they share with some shame, wishing they could but turn back the hands of time, and remove the memories of a gesture, a word, an act that was carried out without considering the pain that would follow.

Max convinces his grandson to join him on a trip to return to Paris, hoping to find the Book of Spells that he and Ada made, and also to see if he could find more information on his birth mother in Italy. And so they start out on a journey that holds much promise, and more time for Max to share his story.

It is Max, his story, his charming if somewhat lost-in-the-past character, his regrets, his passions, Max’s story really is the heart of this story, his never letting go of his shame, or of his love for Ada, his memories of Ada or their time together. They had a spell to bring back a certain time, in order to cherish it again. His hope to find something tangible to hold onto, maybe then he can find his way back.

This was my first book by Glenn Haybittle, and I loved it. Max is one of those characters that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. This story manages to infuse some lighter, happier moments, even humour, during a time when life seemed so very fragile, which made it feel, somehow, all the more real to me.


Pub Date: 11 Jan 2018

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Cheyne Walk

4.5 tragically sad stars

Take a walk back in time. Go back to a room, a house, a neighborhood, and in this case a tree house and explore the feelings that are evoked. Think of your friends, your family and most of all think of moments, minutes where you did something, even if it was so very slight that you were ashamed of. Does the memory haunt you? Can you find forgiveness in your cruelty, your denial, the willful hurt that you gave to another?

Max and Ada are the best of friends, loving each other, sharing with one another, and composing a book of spells in their tree house in Paris. Life seems wonderful with all its childlike wonder. Being ten years old and finding your soul mate is a perfect way to tackle life. But then the dark cloud of the Nazis arrive and life changes and takes a downward spiral into darkness. You see, Ada is Jewish and of course in Paris, under the Nazis, being Jewish is a death sentence.

Max, poor Max, is a child born through rape. His mother left him and he is brought up in foster care where not much love is given to him. However, there is Ada and he loves her and she him, that is until the Nazis come.

The story moves us forward to fifty years later when Max contacts his grandson, another lost soul, and wants to share with him what transpired in Paris those many years ago as well as a secret that has been tearing him apart for so many years. Max wants to return to Paris. He is searching for two women in his life, his beloved Ada and the mother who left him. Max's grandson, also is looking for a woman he lost. The two men head to Paris with the hopes of finding closure, forgiveness, and a date with the hereafter.

Told beautifully, this story if filled with sadness blended with a mixture of humor. It evokes a feeling of lives lost and of hearts broken and a search for forgiveness which is something we all search for when we have hurt another or they have hurt us.

Thank you to Glenn Haybittle, the publisher, and NetGalley for provided and ARC of this very special novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Glenn Haybittle for an ARC of this title. WWII and the holocaust is a genre that interests me a great deal. This was a different and unique perspective. When Max, now a grandfather, was young, he lived next door to Ada. They were as close as two could be. They spent most of their free time in a tree house, enjoying childhood. Because of the war, things changed, and there were regrets that had weighed heavily on Max all of his life. He confides in his grandson, and plans a trip to have some closure, and perhaps find some answers about his own heritage. There is some beautiful writing in this book, and I will remember it for some time to come. Highly recommended.