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Our Father Who Art in a Tree: A Novel
“It was simple for me, the saints were in heaven and guardian angels had extendable wings like Batman and my dad had died and gone to live in the tree in the backyard.” So begins this richly metaphorical, deeply affecting novel about a family, and how loss and grief can be moved through and overcome.
In a voice reminiscent of Scout Finch, the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird , Simone observes with candor and fresh insight the ways in which her mother, brothers, neighbors, and community deal with the death of her father. While her mother stares blankly into space, functioning only on the most basic level, and her older brother buries himself in schoolwork, Simone conceives the idea that her father’s spirit lives in the tree in the backyard. She can go out there, climb up and sit in the tree’s branches, and listen as her father talks to her. It is only when Simone’s mother takes on a suitor that a confrontation is forced between the power of the past and the hope of new life in the future.
Rich in understanding about the power of love, the spirit, and belief, imbued with unexpected truths about people’s deep levels of connection and feeling, and written in prose that combines lyricism with rare humor and insight, Our Father Who Art in a Tree is a wonderful debut novel that deals in a profound and unusual way with some of the eternal themes in fiction, and in life.
In a voice reminiscent of Scout Finch, the narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird , Simone observes with candor and fresh insight the ways in which her mother, brothers, neighbors, and community deal with the death of her father. While her mother stares blankly into space, functioning only on the most basic level, and her older brother buries himself in schoolwork, Simone conceives the idea that her father’s spirit lives in the tree in the backyard. She can go out there, climb up and sit in the tree’s branches, and listen as her father talks to her. It is only when Simone’s mother takes on a suitor that a confrontation is forced between the power of the past and the hope of new life in the future.
Rich in understanding about the power of love, the spirit, and belief, imbued with unexpected truths about people’s deep levels of connection and feeling, and written in prose that combines lyricism with rare humor and insight, Our Father Who Art in a Tree is a wonderful debut novel that deals in a profound and unusual way with some of the eternal themes in fiction, and in life.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2002
8 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Judy Pascoe
6 books5 followersJudy Pascoe was born in Brisbane, Australia and completed a degree in Journalism and Media Communications there before moving to Melbourne to join Circus Oz. She jumped ship in the UK and has since worked as a stand-up comedian, television presenter, script write and author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
July 18, 2007
Simone, a 10-year-old Australian girl, loses her father to heart disease. Everyone in her family is consumed by grief and her only solace is climbing the huge Poinciana tree in their backyard because she has thought, "If you climbed high enough in the tree in our backyard you came to another world". Her suspicions are confirmed when she hears her father's voice in the highest branches. Simone tells her mother of this discovery and persuades her to climb the tree, where she too spends time with her deceased husband. This situation, however, keeps the family from moving on. The tree grows larger and basically uproots the house itself, and with it, the family. A story about grief, love and moving on. Beautiful and lovely…makes death seem such a part of life. I also loved the cover art…gorgeous. Book #51 of my 2006 Book List, finished reading it on 10-23-06.
September 10, 2008
This is a surrealist story about exactly what the title says. The young narrator's father dies and instead of going to heaven, he resides in this tree in the backyard. At times, I felt the author took the surrealism a bit too far. But it didn't mar my enjoyment of the story. I definitely rushed through my students' papers so I could get back to this!
December 19, 2021
When Simone hears her dead father's voice seemingly coming from a huge tree in her family's back yard, she begins talking back to him. She then climbs to the top and discovers they can have conversations that help her stay close. She decides to tell her grieving mother what's going on.
The family dynamics, naturally, have changed since Dad dies with Mom nearly unable to function and keep house for her four children. When she begins conversing with her husband in the top of the tree, she comes alive for awhile.
But "Our Father" isn't just about talking to Dad. It's about how all our relationships can change after a loved one dies. Some people become more helpful; others will help initially (or promise to) then drift away when our pain is too difficult for them.
Simone's best friend and she become distant. Her three brothers are each affected by Dad's death differently, depending on their ages and temperaments. Mom is falling apart. The story deals with truths about our faith, our love, and our hope.
I mention this as a coming-of-age story and for young adults (see my Goodreads shelves) because I figure if "The Book Thief" is suitable for young adults, so is "Our Father Who Art in a Tree." The subject matter is death, but there are valuable lessons for and sometimes reminders about the grief process--how we grieve ourselves, and how we can help others move through their grief.
The family dynamics, naturally, have changed since Dad dies with Mom nearly unable to function and keep house for her four children. When she begins conversing with her husband in the top of the tree, she comes alive for awhile.
But "Our Father" isn't just about talking to Dad. It's about how all our relationships can change after a loved one dies. Some people become more helpful; others will help initially (or promise to) then drift away when our pain is too difficult for them.
Simone's best friend and she become distant. Her three brothers are each affected by Dad's death differently, depending on their ages and temperaments. Mom is falling apart. The story deals with truths about our faith, our love, and our hope.
I mention this as a coming-of-age story and for young adults (see my Goodreads shelves) because I figure if "The Book Thief" is suitable for young adults, so is "Our Father Who Art in a Tree." The subject matter is death, but there are valuable lessons for and sometimes reminders about the grief process--how we grieve ourselves, and how we can help others move through their grief.
January 9, 2010
A beautiful and comforting story.
As I was cleaning out my messy study, I found some notes I'd written about this book, in connection with an essay on modern fiction and mourning, written for the Ames Tribune.
Simone loses her dad at age 10. The book begins: "It was simple for me; the saints were in heaven and guardian angels had extendable wings like Batman and my dad had died and gone to live in a tree in the backyard."
One of my favorite things about this book is that it talks about loss through the eyes of a child, without any sugar-coating. It is a good read for anyone who is missing someone.
As I was cleaning out my messy study, I found some notes I'd written about this book, in connection with an essay on modern fiction and mourning, written for the Ames Tribune.
Simone loses her dad at age 10. The book begins: "It was simple for me; the saints were in heaven and guardian angels had extendable wings like Batman and my dad had died and gone to live in a tree in the backyard."
One of my favorite things about this book is that it talks about loss through the eyes of a child, without any sugar-coating. It is a good read for anyone who is missing someone.
May 22, 2009
I'm not going to lie, I probably wouldn't have read this book if not for the catchy title and tasteful cover. Seeing things through the eyes of an innocent child has opened up my eyes to a lot of things and gave me a new perspective on my own mother. This short book was the perfect accessory for a quiet afternoon at the park~!
July 9, 2014
Líbil se mi obsah, forma už tolik ne. Úplně mi nesedl způsob vyprávění. Čím se ale kniha rozhodně může pochlubit jsou reálné chaaktery a velmi věrohodný průběh vyrovnávání se se ztrátou. Takže celkově 3* :)v
August 11, 2024
I will admit that I picked this book up at the FOL sale solely because I liked the cover, but I was so pleasantly surprised by it. One of my favorite reads of the year.
January 21, 2019
"'Simone,' I could hear my mother. The screen on the back door softened her voice and gave it a lilac tone." 9
"I didn't understand that you could be taught about the mystical but forbidden to believe in it, seek it out, or enjoy it." 84
"I handed her the smooth rock. I had realized when I picked it up how happy I was that I wasn't a rock, that I was a girl, and I could have been a rock, but I wasn't. It was smooth quartz." 93
"The mountains at the back of the house held such promise. I wished I were a traveler. I could keep walking toward the line of lilac and green humps set against the ocean of sky." 96
"I miss the freedom though of interpreting the clouds with her from our great swing and the freedom of being a child at dusk." 194
"I didn't understand that you could be taught about the mystical but forbidden to believe in it, seek it out, or enjoy it." 84
"I handed her the smooth rock. I had realized when I picked it up how happy I was that I wasn't a rock, that I was a girl, and I could have been a rock, but I wasn't. It was smooth quartz." 93
"The mountains at the back of the house held such promise. I wished I were a traveler. I could keep walking toward the line of lilac and green humps set against the ocean of sky." 96
"I miss the freedom though of interpreting the clouds with her from our great swing and the freedom of being a child at dusk." 194
April 15, 2021
Pleasant to read, but its description of the storm near the end and the book’s symbolism throughout it work against the grief and nicely imaginative realism of the 10-year-old narrator. I missed knowing much about the deceased father, his personality, his memorable qualities; he too seems merely symbolic until descriptions of him appear near the middle of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2017
I enjoyed it. A young girl makes peace with her fathers passing by imagining his spirit living on in the tree at the bottom of the garden. A touching coping mechanism when one doesn't wish to let go.
July 10, 2025
A friend gave me this book and described it as charming. I think it does have its charm but it also captures the depth and darkness of grief as well. A relatable story with a lesson about living life in the real world and not the one lost to death.
April 5, 2019
I liked this strange little story essentially about grief
January 12, 2020
What a lovely gem of a book!
July 7, 2021
Quirky, insightful, and beautifully written.
June 5, 2025
The end of the book was really rushed; it just felt like the author wasn’t sure where to bring the story.
Read
August 9, 2011this book was on the recommended reading shelf in the fiction section of the eugene library. everything else looked shitty and the first line of the book really sold me. i really like simple books. i usually hate long-winded descriptions of shit that's useless but this book needed all those descriptions and she did it well. the premise is that a young girls father dies and goes to live in the tree in their backyard. the girl tells her mother and her mother hears his voice up there and so they start talking a lot. the mother kind of breaks down and doesnt cook or clean or care. slowly the trees roots start to grow under the house so they have to cut the tree down or else their house will topple. a bunch of drama surrounds the situation and a storm eventually comes and takes the tree away. now i agree that the ending is ridiculous and strangely reminds me of the end one of those poltergeist movies (the one where the big storm comes and the house nearly kills the family because it was built on an indian burial ground). if that sounds like a ridiculous comparison well it is because the end of the book is far fetched. but i dont care it was exciting. plus the little girl that's the narrator is so insightful that her over exaggeration is allowed. i liked it and it was a quick read.
November 19, 2014
It is an interesting idea for a book, though it does show the signs of being a first novel. There are no surprises in the story, each plot point is telegraphed clearly ahead of time. It could be just me but at the beginning of the book it seemed to be written as if it was being told by the ten year old narrator at the time of the events, and by the end of the book it was apparent that it was being written by the same person at about age 30. Besides the narrator and the mother, the remaining characters are not clearly defined, I often could not tell the difference between each of the children. There are also random, florid descriptions of things and objects that don't otherwise fit in with the overall style of the writing. At just 200 pages it is not very long, though maybe the story would have been more compelling as a short story.
There's nothing wrong with this book per se, just most likely not the type of book I tend to like. So don't take my 2 star review that seriously, if you like this kind of thing then go ahead and track it down, otherwise I suppose there are others of this type that are probably better. I haven't seen the movie that is based on the book, but I wonder if the movie is better than the book!
There's nothing wrong with this book per se, just most likely not the type of book I tend to like. So don't take my 2 star review that seriously, if you like this kind of thing then go ahead and track it down, otherwise I suppose there are others of this type that are probably better. I haven't seen the movie that is based on the book, but I wonder if the movie is better than the book!
October 21, 2011
Following her father’s death, ten-year-old Simone discovers he now lives in the tree in her family’s backyard. So begins a tale of grief and learning how to cope and move on after tragedy. The book starts off strong, but rather than let the story unfold naturally, Ms. Pascoe shows all her cards within the first few pages, giving what should be a simple but deep story an emotional flatness that undermines the serious subject matter. I discovered this Australian import by accident at the library and went into it with high expectations – when handled well, the aftermath of tragedy can make for one of richest sandboxes in which writers can play (and can, by extension, hide a multitude of literary sins). Here, instead of a kaleidoscope of emotions, readers are given pretty scenic descriptions, new-age psychobabble, and jerky pacing. Honestly, I finished this with the rather unkind thought that the book’s major problem was that its author lacked the skill to give this very creative idea the tale it deserved. I had thought it impossible to write a book about a child losing a parent without hitting emotional pay dirt, but this book proved me wrong. Not recommended.
April 8, 2009
This wasn't quite as good as I'd expected it to be from all the hype I'd heard about it. A young girl, Simone, loses her father and watches her mother and brothers deal with the grief. Simone believes her dead father's spirit lives in a tree in their backyard.
From dust jacket:
"...Simone observes with candor and fresh insight the ways in which her mother, brothers, neighbours, and community deal with the death of her father. While her mother stares blankly into space, functioning only on the most basic level, and her older brother buries himself in schoolwork, Simone conceives of the idea that her father's spirit lives in the tree in the backyard. She can go out there, climb up and sit in the tree's branches, and listen as her father talks to her. It is only when Simone's mother takes on a suitor that a confrontation is forced between the power of the past and the hope of new life in the future..."
From dust jacket:
"...Simone observes with candor and fresh insight the ways in which her mother, brothers, neighbours, and community deal with the death of her father. While her mother stares blankly into space, functioning only on the most basic level, and her older brother buries himself in schoolwork, Simone conceives of the idea that her father's spirit lives in the tree in the backyard. She can go out there, climb up and sit in the tree's branches, and listen as her father talks to her. It is only when Simone's mother takes on a suitor that a confrontation is forced between the power of the past and the hope of new life in the future..."
January 9, 2011
A lovely story about a young family learning how to cope with the loss of their father. It's told from the point of view of the little girl who hears her dead father's voice coming from the large poinciana tree in their garden. Her mother climbs the tree with her and the conversations start...
As they talk to him, the tree grows and becomes destructive. The roots grow under the house and destabilise the foundations, as the father hangs on to his family and they refuse to let him go.
This is a moving tale, simply told. It explores our feelings of grief and loss when a loved one dies and how we gradually learn to live without them in our day to day lives, but without cutting them completely from our memories. The emotions are raw and ring so true. I liked the way that Judy Pascoe uses the little girl's voice to bring a lightness and naive honesty to the tale. Well worth a read.
As they talk to him, the tree grows and becomes destructive. The roots grow under the house and destabilise the foundations, as the father hangs on to his family and they refuse to let him go.
This is a moving tale, simply told. It explores our feelings of grief and loss when a loved one dies and how we gradually learn to live without them in our day to day lives, but without cutting them completely from our memories. The emotions are raw and ring so true. I liked the way that Judy Pascoe uses the little girl's voice to bring a lightness and naive honesty to the tale. Well worth a read.
July 2, 2011
This tale is set in the heat of a Queensland summer.
Simone 10yo, and her brothers Edward, James and Gerard, lose their dad to heart disease when he's in his 40's. Everyone in the family is consumed by grief and Simone's only comfort is climbing the huge Poinciana tree in their backyard. She climbed right to the top, higher than she'd ever climbed before, and was amazed at what seemed like another world right up the top. Her suspicions are confirmed when she heard her father's voice in the highest branches.
Simone tells her mum of this discovery and persuades her to climb the tree, where she too spends time with her deceased husband. This situation, however, keeps the family from moving on.
The tree grows larger, and seems to take on a life of it's own, culminating in a massive storm, uprooting the house itself, and with it, the family.
A story about grief, love and moving on....
Simone 10yo, and her brothers Edward, James and Gerard, lose their dad to heart disease when he's in his 40's. Everyone in the family is consumed by grief and Simone's only comfort is climbing the huge Poinciana tree in their backyard. She climbed right to the top, higher than she'd ever climbed before, and was amazed at what seemed like another world right up the top. Her suspicions are confirmed when she heard her father's voice in the highest branches.
Simone tells her mum of this discovery and persuades her to climb the tree, where she too spends time with her deceased husband. This situation, however, keeps the family from moving on.
The tree grows larger, and seems to take on a life of it's own, culminating in a massive storm, uprooting the house itself, and with it, the family.
A story about grief, love and moving on....
January 25, 2012
This is quite a quaint little book that Mark gave me last year and I had not read until now. It is the story of a family struggling to come to terms with the death of their husband and father. The 10yr old hears her father calling to her in the big poinciana tree beside their house and 'discovers'that she can sit up and talk to him. She shares this'gift'with her grief stricken mother believing it to be a comfort only to discover that it torments her mother further. I am always drawn to books on loss and grief and this is a hauntingly real story of death and attempts to continue the bonds with someone you love. The narrators tales of grief are hauntingly real. How the 10yr old narrator experiences grief in great waves that literally make her lose her equilibrium are both tragic and real. Not a book to read if you are sad but still a lovely Australian reflection on loss
February 25, 2016
Young 10 year old Simone, lives with her mother and three brothers after having lost their father/Husband to a heart attack. Simone starts to hear her father call to her from the large tree in the backyard and there she is able to communicate with him. Eventually Simone tells her mother who also climbs the tree to talk. This story delves into mainly Simone and her mothers pent up anger and frears at having lost him, and situations which are beyond their control. It was a bit slow part way through but then picked up once again.
March 8, 2016
This was an odd book and I find it difficult to decide if I really liked it or not. It bordered on fantasy and yet it wasn't fantasy; it was about grief and loss and yet I found myself not feeling a great deal of sympathy for the characters and usually I'm a real sap, sobbing my way through sad scenes. I wasn't bored, I just wasn't enthralled. Perhaps the reason I couldn't completely engage was I found the mother (who had lost her husband) incredibly selfish and unsympathetic to the needs of her grieving children.
Not bad, just not great either.
Not bad, just not great either.
March 24, 2012
revisited the book following release of the film version 'the tree'. themes of grieving for a family who lose their father/husband in rural queensland. beautiful imagery of australian characters & the mystical living properties of the backyard tree that the family use to communicate with the dead father. loved it. very moving. the film is pretty good too but the book comes in first!
December 12, 2007
I was drawn to this book by its gorgeous cover, but alas, the story did not live up for me. What was meant to be dreamlike and mystical came off scattered to me, and the ending really trailed off after the climactic storm. For such a short book, it felt like a very long read.
May 28, 2015
Exceptional
Judy Pascoe thought me to feel. I have never read anything like this before. It is beAutiful and it is sad. Yet I have been renewed by the reading of this most incredible work of art.
Judy Pascoe thought me to feel. I have never read anything like this before. It is beAutiful and it is sad. Yet I have been renewed by the reading of this most incredible work of art.
October 30, 2015
A nicely written story about a young girl who loses her father to an early death, the unusual way that she and her mother cope with the loss, and how that affects the rest of the family and people around them.
January 4, 2008
This beautifully written prose comforted me while moving through my own grief.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews