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BENEATH THE BROKEN OAK takes readers back and forth through dual timelines and multiple storylines that set-up mysteries, the missteps and mayhem behind them, and a huge cast of characters. I ended up jotting down notes to keep up with the three primary family trees and peripheral characters, and how they all relate. Super glad I did that in pencil. Ha! Given the big reveals, I understand why the author couldn’t include them for readers. (Wink-wink.)
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
~Nelson Henderson
Author Lori Altebaumer starts each chapter of BENEATH THE BROKEN OAK with a tree-related quote (forty-nine in all), and each truly enriches the story. I cannot imagine how long it took the author to research and find these and would love to see them compiled as a companion collection to the book. The one above, attributed to a Canadian farmer named Nelson Henderson, seems to me to be a primary take-away message from BENEATH THE BROKEN OAK. It’s such a simple and logical concept, yet — as illustrated through the characters’ actions — extremely difficult for most to embrace.
“The engine coughed to life like an old smoker
climbing out of bed in the morning.”
Fans of figurative language will be dazzled by not only the quantity of examples, but the quality of them. Beyond the symbolism of the oak tree, Altebaumer has a knack for using similes, metaphors, and personification to create evocative and memorable scenes and situations. The teacher in me could see assigning this book to high school students for a lesson on literary devices.
”Actions had consequences. Repenting of the actions
didn’t take away the consequences.”
A thread of spirituality runs steadily throughout BENEATH THE BROKEN OAK, adding both subtle and not-so-subtle layers to the storylines. Altebaumer does a great job of keeping the faith element constant without being preachy. She keeps it realistic by not only describing the radiance that shines when a person embraces God’s love, but also the struggle to find Him in dark times and places. How main-character Jodee and her love interest Blue handled their faith journeys — the former being somewhat oblivious to having a journey, and the latter brimming with its life-changing impact — reinforced that finding one’s path to God is a most personal endeavor. But support certainly helps.
For me, the non-character support is my favorite element of BENEATH THE BROKEN OAK. There’s a white stone, a guiding voice, and a cowboy who help characters in need across both timelines. Readers are left to decide if these are manifestations of the mind in times of distress, supernatural forces at play, divine intervention, or maybe all three?
There are a few loose threads and some unexplained and unnecessary elements in the story, and there are a smattering of typos in the copy I read. But overall, I believe readers will enjoy the thought-provoking escape provided in BENEATH THE BROKEN OAK.
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Oh I love that you pointed out the quotes about trees that preceded the start of a new chapter. This old brain totally missed that in my review, but I agree that they added so much to the story. It would be great to have a list of all of them to read when sitting outside under our favorite tree.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maryann!
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