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{{Short description|2021 novel by Percival Everett}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Trees
| orig title =
| translator =
| image = File:The Trees (Everett novel).jpg
| caption = First edition (US)
| author = [[Percival Everett]]
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language =
| series =
| genre =
| publisher = [[Graywolf Press]] (US)<br>[[Influx Press]] (UK)
| release_date = 2021
| media_type =
| pages =
| isbn =
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| preceded_by = Telephone
| followed_by = Dr. No
}}
'''''The Trees''''' is a 2021 novel by American author [[Percival Everett]], published by [[Graywolf Press]].
Set predominantly in the small town of [[Money, Mississippi]], the novel follows a series of murders that seem to follow identical patterns.
==Summary==
In [[Money, Mississippi]], a white man called Junior Junior is found dead in his own home with the body of an unknown Black man beside him. When the bodies are taken to the morgue, it is soon discovered that the body of the unknown Black man has disappeared. The body is found again in the home of Junior Junior's cousin, Wheat, who has also been murdered. Shortly after, the body of the Black man disappears again.
Two Black detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Ed Morgan and Jim Davis, are sent to Money to investigate the situation. Ed and Jim go to a local bar frequented by the Black community of Money where they discover that both Junior and Wheat are relatives of Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who accused the teenage [[Emmett Till]] of making sexual advances at her leading to his lynching and death. Ed and Jim believe that the disappearing body bears a striking resemblance to Emmett Till's battered body.
More bodies begin to pile up around the country. Each features one or more white men who have been castrated with the bodies of Black or Asian men beside them. Ed and Jim are able to find the identity of the Black man found at the original crime scene. They trace it to a company that sells bodies for research. They also begin to suspect Gertrude Penstock, a [[Passing (racial identity)|white-passing]] waitress they met in Money, and her 105 year old great-grandmother Mama Z are involved in the original murders.
Unbeknown to Ed and Jim, this is revealed to be true as Gertrude and a group of like-minded Black individuals had orchestrated the deaths of Wheat and Junior Junior as retaliation for their father's part in murdering Emmett Till. However they are baffled by the other murders.
Reports of the other murders reveal that large groups of Black and Asian men who appear impervious to bullets, have started duplicating the murders orchestrated by Mama Z and Gertrude.
==Writing and development==
To write the novel, Everett researched [[lynching in the United States]].<ref name=believerinterview>{{cite news |last1=Yeh |first1=James |title=An Interview with Percival Everett |url=https://culture.org/interview-percival-everett-james-yeh/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=Believer Magazine |date=1 December 2021 |archive-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801114206/https://culture.org/interview-percival-everett-james-yeh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> For this research, Everett purchased
==Reception and accolades==
===Reception===
The novel received mostly favorable reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Trees |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/the-trees-2/ |website=Book Marks |publisher=Literary Hub |access-date=28 July 2022 |archive-date=October 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002061036/https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/the-trees-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Mary F. Corey, in a positive review published by the ''[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]'', wrote that the novel included a "Twainian level of wit and meanness".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corey |first1=Mary F. |title=Los Angeles Review of Books |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/confederate-dunces-on-percival-everetts-the-trees/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |date=3 February 2022 |language=en |archive-date=July 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728211736/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/confederate-dunces-on-percival-everetts-the-trees/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Joyce Carol Oates called it "[r]eally profound writing...about subjects of great tragic and political significance.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Oates |first1=Joyce Carol |title=Joyce Carol Oates Doesn't Prefer Blondes |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/joyce-carol-oates-doesnt-prefer-blondes |access-date=26 September 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=25 September 2022 |language=en |archive-date=September 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926210944/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/joyce-carol-oates-doesnt-prefer-blondes |url-status=live }}</ref> Carole V. Bell, in a review published by [[NPR]], also praised the novel, writing that the book is a "combination of whodunnit, horror, humor and razor blade sharp insight".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bell |first1=Carole V. |title=Percival Everett's Latest Grounds Racial Allegory In History, Horror And Blood |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/09/22/1039434714/percival-everett-the-trees-review |access-date=4 August 2022 |work=NPR |date=22 September 2021 |language=en |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804191152/https://www.npr.org/2021/09/22/1039434714/percival-everett-the-trees-review |url-status=live }}</ref>
===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Awards for ''The Trees''
!Year
!Award
!Result
!{{Abbreviation|Ref.|References}}
|-
| rowspan="4" |2022
|[[Anisfield-Wolf Book Award]] for Fiction
|'''Winner'''
|<ref>{{cite web |title=The Trees |url=https://www.anisfield-wolf.org/winners/the-trees/ |access-date=September 16, 2022 |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163410/https://www.anisfield-wolf.org/winners/the-trees/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize]] for Comic Fiction
|'''Winner'''
|<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-11-23 |title=Awards: Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse, Toronto Book Winners |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4366 |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=[[Shelf Awareness]] |archive-date=February 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203023635/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4366 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[2022 Booker Prize|Booker Prize]]
|Shortlist
|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bari |first=Shahidha |date=6 September 2022 |title='I've no idea how we'll pick a winner': the challenge of a spectacular Booker shortlist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/06/ive-no-idea-how-well-pick-a-winner-the-challenge-of-a-spectacular-booker-shortlist |access-date=6 September 2022 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906222514/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/06/ive-no-idea-how-well-pick-a-winner-the-challenge-of-a-spectacular-booker-shortlist |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bayley |first=Sian |date=26 July 2022 |title=Booker Prize longlist dominated by indies as judges pick youngest and oldest ever nominees |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/booker-prize-longlist-dominated-by-indies-as-judges-pick-youngest-and-oldest-ever-nominees |access-date=1 August 2022 |magazine=[[The Bookseller]] |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726230651/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/booker-prize-longlist-dominated-by-indies-as-judges-pick-youngest-and-oldest-ever-nominees |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Segal |first1=Corinne |date=26 July 2022 |title=Here's the 2022 Booker Prize longlist. |url=https://lithub.com/heres-the-2022-booker-prize-longlist/ |access-date=26 July 2022 |work=Literary Hub |archive-date=July 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727203328/https://lithub.com/heres-the-2022-booker-prize-longlist/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[Hurston/Wright Legacy Award]]
|'''Winner'''
|<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2022-10-28 |title=Shara McCallum wins the 2022 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry |url=https://www.peepaltreepress.com/blog/news-authors/shara-mccallum-wins-2022-hurstonwright-legacy-award-poetry |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331004423/https://www.peepaltreepress.com/blog/news-authors/shara-mccallum-wins-2022-hurstonwright-legacy-award-poetry |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=[[Peepal Tree Press]]}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award |url=https://aalbc.com/books/hw-award-winning-books.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331061640/https://aalbc.com/books/hw-award-winning-books.php |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=[[African American Literature Book Club]] |language=en}}</ref>
|}
==References==
{{
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trees (Everett novel)}}
[[Category:2021 American novels]]
[[Category:Graywolf Press books]]
[[Category:English-language novels]]
[[Category:Works about lynching in the United States]]
[[Category:Novels set in Mississippi]]
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