The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

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Title: The Sweet Gum Tree
Author: Katherine Allred
Published by: Ellora's Cave
Release Date: May 12, 2005
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 304
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Coming of Age
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »rape of a side character (not detailed), physical abuse « Hide Spoiler
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My rating:

Blurb:

Sweet tea, corn bread, and soup beans—everyday fare for eight-year-old Alix French, the precocious darling of a respected southern family. But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever. Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.

Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone. Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

My Review:

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
4.5 stars (rounded up) — this book was fabulous but emotionally draining… So much happened, and it really felt like a real story, where things were not perfect and suddenly happily ever after. The love between Nick and Alix was inspiring…even as it went through the ringer.

I think I fell in love right from the start…the book started out about young Alix, and I just couldn’t help but think of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. She was so feisty, and so fierce in her love.

Luckily I guessed what was coming and what was going on fairly early, so I didn’t have that hanging over me. But it was still hard to see Alix and Nick go through all they went through. I enjoyed the way it was written from Alix’s present POV at times, looking back on what went wrong and admitting how she forced herself to feel and think certain things and analyzing where the misunderstandings happened. Misunderstandings tend to be a huge part of turmoil-ific love stories, but it’s nice to see a hindsight view of it where they know what they felt was wrong now, so you could not get as frustrated with them at the time b/c you know they eventually understand where they went wrong and wanted to figure it out. I don’t think I’m making much sense. But it was refreshing.

I had a hard time with the multiple love stories that instigated hurt… Alix using Hugh, Hugh using Alix, even Alix’s parents. It was hard to have so many instances in one story…I just don’t know how you can do that to another person, especially if you care about them. I think that would be the thing that took a half star away….it just hurt my heart too much.

ON REREAD:
4 stars — Another book I haven’t read in YEARS (though I kind of wonder if I had reread it not too long ago, because I remembered a lot more than I should for 8 years having gone by).  I was definitely more frustrated by the lack of communication this time around, but still not as frustrated as I normally am in the lack of communication.  Maybe because I felt like the ramifications were so fucking brutal, that they kind of got punished enough.

I also forgot just how horrible so many characters were with one another in this one.  It was kind of fascinating in a way, because I normally hate when main characters are that awful.  But it was interesting to see the effects of tragedy on Alix, and how it shaped her.  It was kind of a cautionary tale in some ways.

I was less impressed with the choices that Nick and Liz Swanner made about Lindsay View Spoiler »When they didn’t tell her about being pregnant, and then basically took over all of her choices about having the baby. I mean, I get it, it’s the South. And pro-lifers won’t see the problem. But it made me uncomfortable. « Hide Spoiler…that just struck me on a wrong chord for so many reasons.  Another case of characters making questionable (to me) choices.

And I’ll just quickly mention that there was some subtle fat shaming in this one.  The kind that I wouldn’t have noticed before because society had trained me, but I notice now that my eyes are open.  One of the mean girls in the story also happened to be fat, and that became part of what was horrible about her (they even nicknamed her Piggy, when her name was Peggy).  So there’s that.

Despite all of that?  I still got soooooo many tummy tingles while reading this book.  It kept me up until 3am reading because I was engrossed.  I particularly enjoyed the parts when they were younger.  It’s hard to figure out, sometimes, what exactly hits me about a book, but that feeling of both happiness and panic and anxiety for the characters and excitement and dismay all compiling into honest to god tummy tingles is undeniable even if unexplainable.