The Wedding Tree: A Novel by Robin Wells

                I was looking for something else when I came across The Wedding Tree on my library’s website.  It was either below the item I wanted or in the recommended section.  Either way, the title caught my attention.  Then I read the synopsis and decided to give the book a try.  Once I started reading, I became hooked.  There were far too many nights I stayed up late reading because I wanted to know what was going to happen next.  A lot of times I was correct in my predictions, but there were other times where I was not quite sure.  In both instances, I found myself enjoying what was happening and wanted to keep reading.   

                Adelaide has dark secrets.  They are secrets from very early in her life that very few, if anyone, know about.  When she falls and hits her head, Adelaide’s deceased mother comes to her and tells Adelaide she must tell her granddaughter, Hope, the truth.  As Adelaide is in her nineties and about to be moved into assisted living, Adelaide does not have much time.  Unfortunately, the hit Adelaide took to her head has caused memory problems.  The past she remembers perfectly fine, but the present is a problem.  She mixes up who people are, sees double, and tends to lose days at a time.  This makes it difficult for Adelaide to tell her story, so she uses specific items from her house to guide her.  Clothing is particularly useful.  As Adelaide and Hope clean out her house, Adelaide uses each item to tell Hope her story and reveal things she has kept secret for decades.  It all starts during World War II when Adelaide was a newspaper photographer.  At a dance she met a handsome young pilot.  From that point on, her life and the lives of those around her are changed forever.

                Hope listens to Adelaide’s story and comes to learn so much about a woman she thought she knew.  While some of what Adelaide says comes as a surprise, the simple act of Adelaide’s storytelling is exactly what Hope needs as she figures out her life.  Recently divorced and without a job, Hope’s future is completely up in the air.  When she starts to fall for the widower next door, Matt, she becomes even more confused.  The plan is for Hope to only stay with Adelaide until the house is cleaned out and ready for sale.  After that she is scheduled to return to Chicago.  Getting involved with Matt will only confuse the matter.  Hope does not want to hurt him or his two daughters when she leaves, so she does her best to stay away.  That only works for so long before she finds Matt too hard to resist.  She begins to see him, despite her concerns, and gets far deeper into the relationship than she ever planned.  When it comes time for her to go back to Chicago, Hope becomes torn about what she should do.  She must decide what’s right for everyone, but for most of all, herself.

                This book is split up in a very interesting way.  Each chapter is in either Adelaide’s, Hope’s, or Matt’s point of view.  The title of each chapter states whose point of view that chapter is in, alleviating a lot of potential confusion.  There were only two or three times where I found myself mixed up with whose point of view I was in.  Even then it was only for a short amount of time.  Except for those few moments I think these different points of view really added to the book.  It gave the reader three stories to fully follow instead of one with snippets of two others.  That made the book even more interesting than it was from the start.  It also helped that I really liked all three of the main characters.  In fact there were only a couple of characters I did not like in the entire book.  The main character I did not like was Matt’s sister-in-law, Jillian.  Even though her sister was Matt’s first wife, Jillian was determined that she and Matt were meant for each other.  In order to be in his presence, she would manipulate his daughters so they would invite her along to places.  Then when it became clear he was interested in Hope, she would take things about Hope’s life and twist them into flaws of character, such as the fact that Hope is divorced.  All this manipulation worked for one of the daughters, but not the other.  Fortunately it did not work for Matt either.  I don’t know how many times he told Jillian he was not interested in her, but for some reason neither Jillian nor her mother would listen.  In fact, every time Matt said this, Jillian would push harder, making the situation worse for everyone. 

                 A lot of times with books I get impatient for things to happen. With The Wedding Tree that was not the case. Except for wanting to know when Matt was going to finally tell Jillian off, I was happy to go along with the story. As I said before, there were a lot of things I predicted, but there was a lot I didn’t as well. My only real problem I came across with the storyline was with part of the ending. I felt

I had read and seen the scenario that unfolded far too many times. That irritated me. Fortunately the situation was resolved pretty quickly and ended up being fairly important. It let Hope, and the readers, know that the best thing you can ever do is follow your heart.