If you have read The Year of the Rabbit, you will notice an influence of Egyptian art and mythology as well as a constant and near-obsessive tree theme.
The Tree of Life could have been a good title for the novel. Since there was also a strong theme with the Chinese Zodiac, a little girl's evolving belief system and coping methods, I chose to use The Year of the Rabbit instead.
During manic cleanup and re-organization activities in le petit apartment this Thanksgiving weekend, I ventured deep into the storage caverns of our dwelling and retrieved one of my favourite pieces of art. It now decorates one of our bare, bland living room walls.
I had purchased this print while on an outing in Gatineau with a friend many years ago. Unfortunately, it remained wrapped in old blankets along with other paintings in storage after our move to the smaller, safer dwelling. The print nicely displays the stages of life, represented by five birds perched at different positions in a tree.
If you tread on the interwoven strands of my ancient web presence, you will become entwined in quite the list of observations, inspirations and poems about trees.
When you read the novel, you will notice a strong tree theme. You will be introduced to the cherry tree when Father Gio meets Sera, his newly discovered daughter. You will encounter several passages featuring this tree - especially one pivotal day in the lives of the Fletchers.
If I wrote the final chapters well enough, you will be touched by the full circle, the representation of the cycle of life and death.
If I wrote those final chapters well enough, I will have made you cry. Goodness knows I cried enough while writing them!
Have I enticed you to read this bittersweet story or gift it to a loved one? Visit the novel's page at Smashwords. You get to set the price when purchasing the eBook. How do you like them apples? Apples... another theme.
Thanks for dropping by. Visit the novel's domain for fresh announcements, links and tweets by Florence T Lyon.
T
