"with a red pen, she writes in the margins all the names she can recall"

November 21, 2021 5:42 AM

In a short-story excerpt from his novel The Overstory, Richard Powers describes a scientist, her forestry research, and her vindication: "The Woman Redeemed by Trees". (Suzanne Simard, the real-life inspiration for the fictional character here, got a Ted Lasso shout-out.) For a fantastical tale about a woman battling conventional wisdom, "Makeisha in Time" by Rachael K. Jones (also available in Spanish) travels through time: "Each time she returns from the past, she carries another lifetime nestled within her like the shell of a matryoshka doll."
posted by brainwane (7 comments total)

Previously
posted by lalochezia at 6:06 AM on November 21, 2021

Aha! Thanks - the URL was slightly different in that thread so the MetaFilter new post duplicate-checker didn't spot it.

Per lalochezia's comment there - "The Woman Redeemed by Trees" "is a short story that makes up a significant part of the book (the overstory).
If you don't want to read spoilers/mess with the flow of the book.... don't read this!"
posted by brainwane at 6:33 AM on November 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

Powers is a treasure.
posted by doctornemo at 12:25 PM on November 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

Can't speak highly enough of The Overstory.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:54 PM on November 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

Rachael keeps this print on her wall. She says it's what Makeisha would look like.
posted by Scattercat at 12:45 AM on November 22, 2021

She may be the first creature in the expanding adventure of life ever to glimpse this small, certain thing that evolution made.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:55 AM on November 22, 2021

This was my favorite part of the probably the best novel I've ever read. And now I've read it a second time. Thank you.
posted by martin q blank at 7:37 AM on November 22, 2021 [2 favorites]