A review by tonythep
The Tree of Forgetfulness by Pam Durban

4.0

To be honest, this isn't the kind of subject matter I'm normally drawn to. Southern town torn apart by brutal lynching in the early 20th century. But for some reason I picked it up. And I was hooked. Durban tells the story by switching back and forth among a handful of main characters, as well as between 1926 when the lynching occurred and 1943 when one of the characters is on his death bed. She writes beautiful spare prose that succeeds in humanizing each character without ever making excuses for them. This is especially impressive considering that the story is based on actual events involving her own family.