The Cicada Tree, Robert Gwaltney
The Cicada Tree, Robert Gwaltney
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Cicada Tree

Author: Robert Gwaltney

Narrator: Allyson Johnson

Unabridged: 11 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/27/2024

Categories: Fiction, Fantasy


Synopsis

WHEN AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD, WHISKY DRINKING, PIANO PRODIGY ENCOUNTERS A WEALTHY FAMILY POSSESSING SUPERNATURAL BEAUTY, HER ENSUING OBSESSION UNLEASHES FAMILY SECRETS AND A CATACLYSMIC PLAGUE OF CICADAS.

The summer of 1956, a brood of cicadas descends upon Providence, Georgia, a natural event with supernatural repercussions, unhinging the life of Analeise Newell, an eleven-year-old piano prodigy. Amidst this emergence, dark obsessions are stirred, uncanny gifts provoked, and secrets unearthed.

During a visit to Mistletoe, a plantation owned by the wealthy Mayfield family, Analeise encounters Cordelia Mayfield and her daughter Marlissa, both of whom possess an otherworldly beauty, a lineal trait regarded as that Mayfield Shine. A whisper and an act of violence perpetrated during this visit by Mrs. Mayfield all converge to kindle Analeise's fascination with the Mayfields.

Analeise's burgeoning obsession with the Mayfield family overshadows her own seemingly, ordinary life, culminating in dangerous games and manipulation, setting off a chain of cataclysmic events with life-altering consequences—all of it unfolding to the maddening whir of a cicada song.

About Robert Gwaltney

A graduate of Florida State University, Robert Gwaltney resides in Atlanta, Georgia. By day, he serves as vice president of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., a non-profit organization that strengthens children and their families during the most critical times in their development. Through his non-profit work, he is a champion for early childhood literacy.

Robert is an active member of the Atlanta literary community and previously served as fiction editor for the Blue Mountain Review. Currently he serves on the board of the Broadleaf Writers Association. In all the hours between, he writes. His writing has appeared in Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Signal Mountain Review, Works in Progress: An Anthology, and Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology. He is also recipient of the Fall 2022 Pat Conroy Writer's Residency. The Cicada Tree, winner of the Somerset Award for Literary Fiction, is his debut novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Juliet on July 28, 2022

This was a lovely and dark book. It intertwined the beauty of the rural south with the majesty of the natural world. It reminded me of a cross of To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bluest Eye, and 60's/70's horror creature flicks. So good! Robert has a way of winding language into description without draggi......more

Goodreads review by Desiree on June 25, 2022

*Quasi spoilers* This book was amazing, absorbing, atmospheric, an impressive debut. Was planning on 5 stars, but just didn't like the resolution to one of the mysteries. It makes sense, I guess, for everything that was set in motion. But truly nauseating. While I take some exception to the reason fo......more

Goodreads review by Ellery on January 20, 2024

This beautifully written novel about two girls growing up in 1950s Georgia is full of magic, friendship, family, and dysfunction. The villains are the Mayfields—a rich, beguiling clan with a mean streak as long as the Chattahoochee River. Our heroines, Analeise and Etta Mae, are musically gifted. Bu......more

Goodreads review by Erin on May 10, 2022

Thanks to @getredPR for providing my review copy! A new Southern gothic novel from author Robert Gwaltney brings a new heroine full of Southern spunk and childlike innocence that will leave readers reminiscing of young Scout Finch (“To Kill a Mockingbird") or Kya Clarke (“Where the Crawdads Sin......more

Goodreads review by Dive Into A Good Book on January 29, 2022

Wow! I am in total awe of The Cicada Tree and the masterful way Robert Gwaltney weaves an astounding tale of intrigue, suspense, and rapture. He creates such a spinning cyclone of enchantment that you are left in awe. The descriptions are so rich and deep you can feel the vibrations of the thunder r......more