Reflections Of Quercus Treen and Meek: East Brakeshire Tales
- Andy Bracken
- Feb 1, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 7
Two stories - a full novel about an old oak tree, and a short story about a Cairn Terrier dog. It's a grown-up book, despite the premise. It'll make you laugh. And it'll break your heart. It'll cause you to pause and think. It may even compel you to alter the way that you view the world. It's actually possible that this book might change your life.
This is a revised edition with a short story to go with the tall tale. Original edition (no longer available) was published in 2015.
Author Notes
Please see 2015 Author Notes for my initial thoughts on this title, which I penned in 2013-14.
In January 2019, I edited the book. There were a few textual alterations, most of which were geographical. Brakeshire had developed, and ‘Treen’ needed to reflect those changes. I also tidied up some of the writing in places.
The plot, though, remains as it initially was. I think it’s a very beautiful book, with a message we could all perhaps do with taking on board. Thinking back on some of the subject matter, it’s quite forward looking.
The short story, ‘Meek’, named for Joe Meek, is a tale of a terrier and the bond he has with his owner, Joe. It’s quite sad.
Once again, characters make this book so special. I think this one would be in my Top Five Bracken novels!
Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A very human oak tree
"...This book is a wonderful portrait of human and human feelings and behaviors from the privileged point of view of an oak tree that, with time, managed to understand human words, human gestures and human attitudes and feelings. Good and bad. It's such a fascinating read. We get to see the Victorian era, the psychedelic era, the Wars era, all from the wise perspective of a tree with very noble human feelings. And, as always, the fascinating characters that are always part of Andy Bracken's books are here, always unpredictable and fascinating. This book may really change something in a reader's mind. It's that good. Apart from the main story, there's a lovely book about a dog, also with an intriguing but very true perspective on human behaviors."
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