Choiring of the Trees

This may be the most intimate, for me, of Harington's novels. TAOTAO was the first, and is the spine of all my Harington reading - but this one is easily the one my *girlish* heart loved most. It is the best balance of Harington's wild fancy and his talent for character development, and it is the book that feels like he must have had the same breezes in his fingers that live in Nail's trees. Merely seeing this title makes little hairs on my neck stand up a bit, this story is so affecting. I want to go read it once more, and cry and smile as it carries me again.

I read 75-80 novels a year and this was hands down the best read of 2002. Moving, thought provoking, a wonderful historical characterization of a time and era, absolutely vivid characters, and surprises throughout. I always choose a top read of the year and this is the second time Mr Harington has topped the list for me. Not many novels make you feel you're there; this one does.

CHOIRING OF THE TREES resonates with memorable aspects. Harrington develops the setting of this story in masterful detail, capturing the essence of life in a remote, turn-of-the-century Ozark community called Stay More, Arkansas. Rich with lore and colloquial expressions, this novel is particularly poignant as regional fiction, but excellent literature by anyone's standard. The story includes a few actual people from Arkansas history and it graphically portrays the brutality of the Arkansas prison system as it was prior to World War I. CHOIRING. . . is an interesting exploration of justice as well as a touching love story, but most importantly, it is a compelling read. Harrington develops convincing and lovable characters who are hard to abandon when the story is finished, and remarkably, he accomplishes all of this in the voice of a female narrator. In January, I read bestselling COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier, and I admired it greatly. CHOIRING OF THE TREE! S, also an odyssey, is in my estimation even better.

This novel is intricate and unforgettable. The now common phrase Dead Man Walking does not begin to capture the tense, sensitive life of an unfairly doomed man and a woman who takes such chances to love him. Challenges all our ideas about bearing fair witness, justice, and goes on for years. Rich character development, rich writing. A rare find.

Brilliant, romantic, moving, just wonderful