Book of Trees
I found a box in the basement.
Each object carries secrets.
Chapter 8: Book of Trees: Pine Meets Birch
I loved Grandma Rita, a Holocaust Survivor, with the fierce, enormous love of a little girl. So, I vividly remember her creating each painting, which parts she struggled with, and the images or setups she used as references. She would most often paint from photographs taken from contemporary wall calendars, merging a few into her unique compositions.
Chapter 7: Interlude: (The Pages in the Wall)
This is my great-grandfather’s last manuscript, written while he was incarcerated in the Lvov Ghetto, before the g-ddamn Nazis murdered him…
Chapter 6: Palm and Citron
George’s family fled the Inquisition.
Eighty-four years after his birth and baptism at the Domus Conversorum, he faced the same process.
When they tried him, they used the Inquisition’s test for conversos: Can you recite the Lord’s Prayer?
Chapter 5: Thistle and Pearl
Salem Witch Trials // Lost letters // Saint Margaret’s book // Family patterns // Milk Thistle Tea
Chapter 4: Willow and Wolf
Salem Witches // Family Recipe: Willow Water for pain relief // Ancient Texts // Craft: Pull Love Closer: Willow Love Knot // Wolf tricks
But who were John’s ancestors? Had they ever been Puritans? I went back further and discovered that the other side of John's family had been here since the 17th century. And that my 6th great-grandmother, Margaret Jacobs, was a convicted Salem Witch. Margaret's mother, father, and grandfather were also convicted.
Chapter 3: Blackbird Spells
A secret brothel // blackbird’s botanical magic // making crow friends // how to make wreaths // the power of identifying patterns.
Chapter 2: Myrtle and Rose
A new mystery, The Language of Flowers, links to old books, how to make rosewater, and trusting your instincts.
“The Crooked Branch” series of Book of Trees traces a legacy of whispers and shadows.
THE MYSTERY:
My peculiar mother hid things in boxes, secreted under an 18th-century house in the woods, with a stream running through its basement. I opened a box with my grandpa,
