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Reviewed by Gayani Hathurusingha for Readers' Favorite
"You're not mine." That had been Bushy's excuse to inflict torture on his son, Kramer, the adult narrator recollecting his past in David Nelson's remarkable novel "The Shade Tree Choir." Returning to his childhood hometown on the event of his father's funeral, Kramer finds that he returns to a changed world. Going for a walk in the neighborhood, he feels the pain of the old scars etched within him. The novel focuses on the childhood innocence that he once experienced as a teenager growing up in a very unpleasant household with both parents addicted to alcohol. The plot gives way to the narrator's attempt to reconcile his past.
The flashback of the protagonist, on which the plot is constructed, is saturated with details of childhood escapades. The story runs on the dual layers of the psychological aspects of a failing parent-child relationship and the childhood adventures woven around the image of a magnificent Elm tree, which functions as a meeting point for the children of the neighborhood. The diversity of the plot contributes much to make the reading a pleasure. The novel contains a combination of tragic elements and subtle comedy. Thus, "The shade tree choir" becomes a deep analysis of human relationships both positive and negative. Moreover, David Nelson makes the reader realize the change, especially the change of attitudes which comes hand in hand with the passage of time. David Nelson persuades his reader to sympathize with a once-brutal man, and with his sentimental narrative style and the unique way of characterization, he creates a compelling novel.
