Woman in the Trees — Gerry Williams

Fiction. Often, the way a story is told is as important as the story itself. This is true of the most recent novel by Gerry William, THE WOMAN IN THE TREES. Set during the time of the first contact, THE WOMAN IN THE TREES takes place around what is now Vernon, B.C. The novel moves effortlessly from myth to dream time to narrative real time. Spanning the historical period from 1780 to 1860, this book addresses a time of massive upheaval for the Okanagan people (the syilix). The coming of the horse, relations with early Europeans, and the smallpox epidemic dramatically changed the lives of the syilix. Part historical novel, part myth for our times, THE WOMAN IN THE TREES will inspire and ultimately satisfy. For as the narrator says, there are fifty ways to tell the beginning of everything, but there is only one ending.