The Trees: A Novel
Sep 2021 · Sold by Graywolf Press
star
22 reviews
Ebook
288
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize
Winner of the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
Finalist for the 2022 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Finalist for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award
Longlisted for the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
An uncanny literary thriller addressing the painful legacy of lynching in the US, by the author of Telephone
Percival Everett’s The Trees is a page-turner that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till.
The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in a fast-paced style that ensures the reader can’t look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America’s pulse.
Winner of the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
Finalist for the 2022 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Finalist for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award
Longlisted for the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
An uncanny literary thriller addressing the painful legacy of lynching in the US, by the author of Telephone
Percival Everett’s The Trees is a page-turner that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till.
The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in a fast-paced style that ensures the reader can’t look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America’s pulse.
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize
Winner of the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
Finalist for the 2022 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Finalist for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award
Longlisted for the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
An uncanny literary thriller addressing the painful legacy of lync...
Discover more
Ratings and reviews
22 reviews
John Marshall
- Flag inappropriate
November 4, 2025
Finished The Trees, by Percival Everett. It is a testament to the racial reckoning of America. The novel brilliantly blends a darkly comic murder mystery with a devastating confrontation of historical trauma, as the victims' bodies eerily match the perpetrators of past lynchings. Everett also suggests that the comfortability of brutality is acceptable if and only if enacted on people of color. Momma Z, an elder who lives in Money, Mississippi, serves as the haunting, helpful, and hypnotic—almost magical—person who recalls the horrors and stages the retribution. The detectives who are sent to solve the murders struggle to do their jobs and investigate while coming to terms with the history of lynching their ancestors. Everett mocks American denial and bad deeds by creating characters who wholly believe in justice, yet many of them consider justice in different ways. Satire and irony riddle the pages of The Trees. Everett has a way of using sharp and blunt humor to expose the moral rot at the heart of the American justice system. He also takes punches at America's historical amnesia. I deem Everett a satirical genius. The way he uses witty, highly educated, coy, and impatient Black law enforcement officers in his book to contrast the ineptitude and casual racism of the racist law enforcement officers of Money, Mississippi is bold and at times, hilarious. Although not my favorite book of Everett's—his novel James is in my top 30 best books ever—I will recommend this book for anyone who wants to see, in a creative way, how easily society minimizes or ignores profound evil when it is deemed politically or culturally inconvenient. 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 AI used to create image of Jim Davis and Ed Morgan - the detectives AI used to create image of Momma Z #TheTrees #percivaleverett
Todd R
- Flag inappropriate
April 10, 2024
Very entertaining and educational at the same time. Personally I love books that make me laugh and also help me to understand certain dark aspects of American history a little better.
Roger Barnaby
- Flag inappropriate
February 10, 2026
Started out interesting, then got stupid, it was a chore to finish.
About the author
Percival Everett is author to more than thirty books. He voted for Joe Biden.
Percival Everett is author to more than thirty books. He voted for Joe Biden.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
