Nicole Baart’s beneath the Night Tree is the third in a series that begins with After the Leaves Fall, followed by Summer Snow, but this novel easily stands on its own. Published by Tyndale, beneath the Night Tree is available now.
I assume some of the fullness of this story about single mom Julia DeSmit, her rambunctious and ebullient five year old kindergartner Daniel, and her old-beyond-his-years brooding 10 year old half-brother Simon, abandoned by her same loveless mother Julia refers to as Janice, and Julia’s beloved paternal grandmother Nellie, appeared in the previous books. However, we get a fair picture of this 24 year old woman who feels old at times in spite of her heart-pumping relationship with boyfriend Michael who is studying several hours away to be a doctor. We feel her restrained wanderlust which reflects that common desire of many young people to escape burdensome responsibilities that can make them feel like they’ll never accomplish anything worthwhile in their lives and/or that they’ve somehow missed out on just the fun part of being young. We sense it’s something her estranged mother never grew out of and instead forfeited any life with strings attached to pursue her selfish lifestyle.
Julia helps hold the disjointed family together with her dead end job at their small town’s local grocery store while escaping her lack of fulfillment by indulging her photography skills and ventures. Having never had to deal with Daniel’s absentee father since she told him she was pregnant, she’s stunned to receive an email from him after all this time expressing his regrets and asking if he’s a father. In spite of her outrage Julia responds with one affirmative word, and suddenly her life explodes with emotional chaos.
The infusion of anger, the adjustments she’s forced to make, the hope she holds out for her marriage to Michael, and the aging of her grandmother all combine to drive Julia to take refuge in something she hopes will work yet knows it can’t.
I think Nicole did a meaningful job of portraying this young woman even though at times Julia feels older than she is, she also acts that way, but at the same time her youthful emotions and silent tantrums belie her age. The innate angst, defiance, self-doubt and persecution, hopes and dreams, the nagging responsibilities that compose your life at that age when you realize this is the life you’ve made for yourself—all those things combine to force daydreams of running away to assert your fierce independence, but in reality you know you can’t and at the heart of things you really don’t want to anyway. Leaving behind all that you love couldn’t produce anything of value—she only has to look as far as her mother to see that ugly picture.
Even though this story isn’t “new” and is therefore predictable, the beauty of how it’s told makes it a worthwhile journey into the lives of this small family. This is pure women’s fiction adorned with a lovely landscape of words yet still keeping that comfortable, relatable air of honesty and homey quality. The male characters take a backseat to the voice of Julia who fleshes them out with prejudice or favor depending on her mood. I wish the story could’ve been longer in order to expose these characters even more deeply and thoughtfully which I have no doubt Nicole could easily have done well. This is where word counts cut off so much more than they reveal.
The significance of the “Night Tree” appears about two thirds of the way through the story and brings all kinds of symbolism to this reader, but I’ll leave that to the imagination of other readers who choose beneath the Night Tree for their true reading pleasure.
Father, continue to bless Nicole in her public and private life, and I pray, Lord, that you would intensify your relationship with her. Give her stories to tell without limits and the time to tell them. Keep her strong in you and in your mighty power. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.