Book Club with Rita Manak

The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018) is a novel that follows nine diverse Americans whose lives become connected to trees. The narrative spans multiple generations and locations across the United States. From the mid-1800s, when Jorgen Hoel Plants six chestnut trees on his farm in Iowa. Only one survives and is photographed through subsequent Hoel generations to Nicholas, the last of the family. He meets Olivia and they join forces to protect old-growth trees. Their efforts are joined by others and they form a group that engages in eco-terrorism.

The characters stories are diverse and their stories intersect and diverge. Powers uses these
narratives to explore the relationship between humans and nature among other themes. The
book was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.