Under the Tulip Tree - Paperback

Under the Tulip Tree, by Michelle Shocklee, follows a Depression-era reporter who records the life story of a 101-year-old former slave.

In 1936 Tennessee, Rena Leland takes a job with the Federal Writers' Project because no newspaper will have her. Frankie Washington's memories of slavery and the Civil War unsettle what Rena was raised to believe.

Two timelines run side by side, and the bond between the women carries the book.

Readers say

It is Christian historical fiction that reviewers call heartbreaking and hopeful at once, and plenty found it hard to put down. Keep tissues close.

From the publisher

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland's dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena's banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter.

Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers' Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.

As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured--especially because Rena's ancestors owned slaves.

While Frankie's story challenges Rena's preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

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