Such a unique plot, and cover. Cicadas are so creepy, but this cover made them less so. The Author did a great job with keeping my interest.

This was just too weird for me…especially the ending. If you like fantastical stories, you will probably like this one. It just was not for me.

It’s book review time. I stepped outside my comfort zone a little bit this time with an historical fiction book. The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney was released yesterday (the 22nd) from Moonshine Cove Publishing. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.

The Cicada Tree follows Analeise Newell, an 11-year-old who is trying to navigate life in 1956 Georgia. Emotions run high as she struggles to figure out how everything she loves fits together: her friendship with Etta Mae, her crush on Abel Darlington, and her newfound obsession with the Mayfields. As Analeise digs into her obsession, she finds more darkness than she bargains for in that Mayfield shine she’s so attracted to. It’s all set against the backdrop of summer in Georgia when the whine of the cicadas can either lull you to sleep or drive you crazy.

I’ll be honest, this book wasn’t for me. I’m all for southern gothic and blending supernatural into regular fiction, but something about this book kept me from getting into it. I think it’s because the ages of the characters just didn’t feel right. Analeise and the rest of the kids all seemed more like teenagers than 11-year-olds. I’d go as young as 14, but honestly I kept thinking they were closer to 16 or so. Yes, I realize that younger kids can be stupidly vicious too, but the vocabulary and most of the actions just felt older. There were a few scenes where I thought “okay, these are younger kids,” but they were few and far between.

The fact that the book was written in first person from Analeise’s perspective didn’t help with the age issue. If we’re that close to a character, I expect the narrative voice to fit the age of the character, but it didn’t. Maybe the story is being told from grown-Analeise’s perspective. If that’s the case, fine. But there was nothing to suggest that in the book. At least not the version I had access to. I saw somewhere that the final version is supposed to have an epilogue, so maybe it becomes clearer in there.

Actually, an epilogue would be really helpful because the ending left things super vague and not even in a “create your own ending” kind of way. It was completely unsatisfying. Like, I might look for it at my library just to see if anything is cleared up in the final version. I’m not tempted enough to buy it, but I’ll definitely check the library system for it.

The writing itself was a little purple for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, just a tad overly descriptive for my tastes. And I normally talk about the characters, but I had zero sympathy for any of them, except maybe Abel. He was an okay kid. Etta Mae was too angelic. Everyone else was too selfish for me to get behind.

Ultimately, I wasn’t a fan of The Cicada Tree. Maybe I’ll like it a little better if I see the epilogue, but I doubt it. There was too much I didn’t care for. If I come across something else by Gwaltney, I’d look at it because the writing was okay, but I won’t be searching for anything.

Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. If you’re into southern gothic and are interested in the premise, give it a shot. If not, you’re not missing anything.

This started slow for me and I wasn't enjoying the writing, I almost DNF'd the book. I'm glad I kept going though as it turned a point in which I was totally gripped and wanting to know how things turned out. The writing seemed to shift as well, or at least it felt much better and definitely gave me vibes of another time. Anyone who has heard cicadas knows the sound and it could be felt while reading this book, a definite character in their own right. The ending was a bit dramatic but I could understand how it came about. Overall, a great debut and an author I will check out again in the future.

Reminiscent, in style, to the writings of Reynolds Price, The Cicada Tree is a memorable coming of age story, set in the 1950’s Deep South. Debut author Robert Gwaltney gives us characters steeped in naïveté, juxtaposed with continuous,underlying currents of darkness.

Pour yourself a sweet tea and head out to the sleeping porch. Let the buzz of the cicadas transport you to 1956 Providence, Georgia. It’s a journey you’ll never forget.

The Cicada Tree
by: Robert Gwaltney
Moonshine Cove Publishing
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction
Publication date: 2/22/22

In The Cicada Tree, Robert Gwaltney proves himself masterful of language to evoke atmosphere, imagery, and awareness for his readers. His skill takes us deep into the intricacies and complexities of 1956 Georgia for a story that swirls within and around eleven-year-old Analeise Newell. Her relationships with other young girls range from friendship to obsession, admiration to jealousy, and everything in between. The adult characters are well developed and intriguing. The mystery surrounding the true interconnections of all characters is one that keeps the pages turning in search of resolution. Components of race and social class add depth.

Gwaltney excels in regional and character details, with words, phrasing, and timing that left me fully immersed in his stirring storyline of secrets, manipulation, and confusion. Precise descriptions of dresses, perfume, food and music, for example, provided complete sensory connections to the sights, smells, tastes, emotions, and sounds presented in the chapters.

I cannot remember reading a book with such mystical and supernatural style, plus a completely original, seamless, and often shocking flow of events. Certainly, there is not a character like Analeise, nor a brood of cicadas in my memory. Gwaltney simply knows how to write in a mesmerizing, lyrical and exquisite manner. This is an outstanding debut novel for him, and the sky is the limit for his future.

Thank you to Net Galley and Moonshine Cove Publishing for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
 #thecicadatree #NetGalley

Eleven year old Analeise Newell is growing up in a family with secrets that she can’t quite figure out.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one. I’m a huge fan of historical southern fiction, but supernatural plots usually have me rolling my eyes.

I’m so glad I decided to give this one a chance, because I could not put this book down. The tone of The Cicada Tree brought me right into the world of the story and had me searching for answers just as desperately as the main character. The Supernatural elements didn’t detract from the plot at all. They added such an amazing layer to this story. I definitely recommend this book.

jonsokol.com/2022/02/20/book-review-the-cicada-tree-by-robert-gwaltney/

Book Review: “The Cicada Tree” by Robert Gwaltney

MOONSHINE COVE PUBLISHING, FEBRUARY 22, 2022

Robert Gwaltney’s The Cicada Tree takes place in mid-century, rural South Georgia. A place where racial segregation and social class division serve as a background to a fascinating story about a local wealthy family and the secrets they harbor. And I’m not talking about typical “skeletons in the closet” secrets that all families have, especially in the South. I’m talking about secrets that, if told, could alter lives, towns, perhaps even the course of history.

The story begins with two young girls, one White and one Black–both third-graders and best friends, collecting “bushels” of cicada husks in their back yard. Analise is the precocious daughter of Claxton, the town drunk, and Grace Newell, a woman “gifted” with forbidden talents. Etta Mae is an orphaned girl living with her grandmother, Miss Wessie, who is the live-in made for the Claxtons. Both girls have extraordinary natural talents for music. Analise, a seeming magnet for trouble, also has a flair for mischief with level-headed and sweet Etta Mae serving as her conscious.

The 13-year, generational cicadas are a constant presence and din throughout the story. A biblical pestilence that seems to presage a greater storm on the horizon. One that eventually will break over the town of Providence, Georgia, laying bare the troubled secrets of the Mayfield family.

“They done come back you know?” He cupped his hand to his disfigured ear. “Can’t you hear them? Them ole locusts…they got secrets they keep. Things they know and keep buried deep down in the ground with them–until they have the mind to come back. To sing out what they know…mind your secrets,” Halbert said. “Keep ’em close.”

The Mayfields, Kingston and Cordelia, are wealthy socialites and owners of the Mayfield Pickle Company, the only major employer in town. Along with their daughter, Marlissa—also a third-grader, the family shares a mysterious attractiveness known as that “Mayfield shine.” A bizarre charm and allure that goes far beyond their impeccable beauty. They also share a troubled past—one filled with secrets, tragedy, and perhaps even ghosts. After all, what would a good Southern Gothic novel be without a maybe-ghost that represents past sins?

After a fire burns down the private school where the local rich kids are isolated away from the rural working-class kids, Marlissa Mayfield begins attending the public (White) school where she immediately becomes the most popular kid and begins a complicated and dangerous friendship with Analise. A mind-bending relationship that threatens to pull apart everything Analise holds dear.

Gwaltney’s descriptions of rural life in the segregated South are cinematic in both texture and girth. His use of dialogue, with only a smattering of vernacular—just enough to feel authentic, is a real treat to read. Equally impressive is his ability to realistically drive the first-person point of view of an eleven-year-old girl from the 1950s. One who is challenged both by the stifling social norms of her time and the magical realism that invades her world.

I love reading historical fiction, and while this book took me a minute to get into, I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were flawed, manipulative, confused, and immensely intriguing. Set in a time of inequality between white and black people, the reader follows the MC as she navigates having a black best friend, hearing rumors/whispers about her mama, and just wanting to fit in with the popular girl of her small town.

Sucked into that life by the razzle & dazzle, Analeise finds herself subjected to mind games all the while dealing with heavy emotions that are bombarded on a blossoming young girl. The supernatural moments in the book create both chaos & stability for the main characters, showing when times are stable and when their world is falling apart.

The imagery given to the reader by Gwaltney throughout the story is not like anything I have read. Amidst the secrets, lies, death, and misery you can tell that Analeise, her mama, Etta Mae and Miss Wessie love each other unconditionally and that bond will never break, even when its strength is tested over and over.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞 is a hard book to categorize. It has the elements of a great Southern Gothic novel, but it is certainly a coming-of-age story filled with bullying, race and wealth disparities, and magical realism.

It’s the summer of 1956 and the cicadas have returned to Providence, Georgia. Along with their reemergence, strange occurrences and even the supernatural take hold of the young Analeise Newell.

Eleven-year-old Analeise, a piano prodigy, has always loved playing with her friend Etta Mae. But now Analeise feels anger inside her: jealousy of Etta Mae’s beautiful voice and a fascination with the Mayfields, wealthy plantation owners.

I loved how music was a part of this story and the cicadas seemed to be a creepy analogy of secrets crawling back out into the light. There is definitely an eerie feel throughout - is this madness, is it mystical? I was a little confused at times, but then wow, the ending really shocked me!

Thank you to @suzyapprovedbooktours and @robertgwaltneyjr for a spot on tour and a gifted ebook.

Analeise is a young girl growing up in Providence, Georgia. She loves bugs and is called the Bug Girl at school. She doesn’t mind. She knows she is different. But, when she visits the Mistletoe plantation, she realizes just how different her life is.

This is a rare, coming of age story. Analeise is prodigy on the piano and her good friend, Etta Mae, can sing like no other. Then, there is the family called Mayfield. They are wealthy and seem to have the perfect life. But something is just not right. Analiese is completely captivated and drawn to this family. And this fascination may just be her undoing!

Robert Gwaltney weaves and unique tale full of suspense, secrets and intrigue. This story leaves you wanting more!

Need a heart felt, dramatic, southern novel…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

A coming of age story set in the southern United States in the mid-1950s with friends Analeise and Etta Mae. During this particular summer, cicadas are swarming their home state, bringing with them many adverse and odd events. As the story unfolds it becomes darker and more deeply entrenched within the gothic genre. The author has done a beautiful job with his writing style and fluid description of life in the south. I was kept fully entertained throughout the book, even through the parts that seemed slightly unrealistic. This plot grew and twisted and grew some more over the course of the story. Overall this dark tale is one that I will recommend to other readers.

The Cicada Tree was an unexpected yet masterfully woven tale. It has taken me several days to absorb it all, which is the best kind of book!

Analeise is a young lady with a talent for the piano. The cicadas have descended upon her area of Georgia, and a series of strange events and obsessions comes with them. The story that unfolds kept me on my toes every second!

I really enjoyed the clear picture of Analeise’s southern world that the author painted. I felt transported to the south in the 1950s. There was this young innocence to Analeise and yet a darkness grew within her. An absolutely intriguing read!

Thank you to @getredprbooks and @robertgwaltneyjr for the opportunity to read this book! The review expresses my own personal opinions.

I really liked this story. I felt like the start was slow and could have been more impactful if it was tightened up. The secrets unfolded throughout but you weren't really sure of what to believe until the end. The full reveal threw me a little. I had actually figured most of it out in the beginning from the way the story was going - but I didn't understand some of the decisions made during the final reveal. Overall, the characters were good, dynamic, and really made me think at times.

The author’s writing is very lush and descriptive. So many things are happening during this Georgia summer and you can feel the slow build. Stunning!
Many thanks to Moonshine Cove Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

An excellent absolutely beautifully written southern gothic story - about an 11 year old - cicadas, mysterious happenings and the rich folk in town - loved this one - original characters and setting

This is a well written debut novel with lyrical prose, complex characters and a building sense of unease throughout the book. I don’t want to say too much, but this is a story that gets darker and more twisted as it goes. Pick this one up if you’re looking for an intriguing book about social class and race and enjoy historical fiction/southern fiction with an element of the supernatural.

The Cicada Tree

Had they seen the terrible things I had done. Is that what cicadas did? Gobble up all the secrets in the world until they ripped at the seams, popping clear out of their skin.

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel because the prose is so beautifully delivered in this southern gothic. Gwaltney uses dialogue masterefully so that the reader can’t help but feel every ounce of spunk in Annelise and the love/hate relationship she has with Miss Wessie. The colloquialisms were delightful and authentic. Everything about this book is immersed in southern culture.

Sounds like the lord has a bee in her bonnet.

Synopsis:

It’s the summer of 1956, and a brood of cicadas descends upon Providence, Georgia. It’s a natural event with supernatural repercussions, and unhinges 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 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, and setting off a chain of cataclysmic events with life-altering consequences—all unfolding to the maddening whir of a cicada song.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys southern gothic, or a coming of age story.

A connection i can make with this book is that I lived near Atlanta, Georgia for a very brief time grouwing up. Last summer we had a brood of cicadas in Ohio and I can’t say I was charmed by them one bit. They are loud, big and are an absolute nuisance in my opinion!

Analiese Newell is a young piano prodigy in the 1956 South. Her best friend, Etta May, has a beautiful voice who's always singing. This is also a year that the cicadas come back in a plague-like fashion for the first time in 13 years.

Secrets will be uncovered when Analiese becomes strangely fascinated with the beguiling Marlissa. She is a wealthy girl and a strange girl. Her family is interesting and scary.

This is a great coming of age Gothic novel with so much mystery. Sometimes you have to suspend belief at some of the goings-on, but this tale is told so richly and vivid! I had some visceral reactions to the cicada's swarm.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐚’𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭- 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

The Cicada Tree is a supernatural, southern gothic crawling with cicadas and dark happenings in Providence, Georgia. It is 1956, Analeise Newell crowns her dear friend Etta Mae with the shells of cicadas in a plait atop her head, naming her the Locust Queen. If Etta Mae is the Queen of anything it is singing, for anyone that hears her beautiful voice can feel its magic. Analeise admits to herself, singing may be the one thing Etta Mae loves more than her. Music is a gift they share, for Analeise can play the piano, may well be a prodigy. Inseparable, with mothers who became friends while working for the wealthy Mayfield family at their pickle company, they are more like sisters, even if their skin color is different. Analeise knows her friend’s angelic singing is meant to reach Etta’s mother, no longer of this earth. It makes her terribly sad for her but it doesn’t stop her from envying Etta’s talent. Is it strange, then, that Analeise can taste sorrow in music? She is no stranger to being down, with a drunk for a father, one who raises hell.

Analeise accompanies her mother to the Mayfield’s plantation “Mistletoe”, far bigger than even her best friend Jane’s fancy home. It is here that she overhears the gatekeeper telling her mother that the ole’ locusts have come back, and with secrets, ones buried deep in the ground. It’s not the first mysterious thing she will hear. “Mind you secrets”, he calls after them. Her mother works Saturdays, thanks to her useless father, and there is no chance she can play with Marlissa, the Mayfield’s precious little girl. Wealthy girls don’t play with little girls who live in small houses like Analeise- just like white girls can’t go to the colored church to hear their friend sing. If only she could envision, understand things as clearly as her gifted mother but that particular talent hasn’t been passed down to her. Left to her own devices, told to stay in one spot while her mother checks on the maid Mercy, Analeise gets lost in her exploring and has yet another strange encounter. This one with the woman of the house, Mrs. Cordelia Mayfield, a stunning beauty. It’s not kindness she has for her, it is a hard slap and it feels like a spell, what happens between them in a brief moment. There is something intoxicating about Cordelia.

She has done wrong, gotten her mamma in trouble, who is told not to bring her to their house again. Analeise is suprised, knowing that Cordelia felt a strange connection flowing between them. She is enchanted by the Mayfields and full of a song she hears at Mistletoe and a name. A name that is branded in her soul. Something else is rising inside of her, hard and mean. Just what is coming over Analeise? Miss Wessie (Etta Mae’s Grandmother) does her best to keep her sharp eye on the girls and she refuses them answers to sate their curiosity about the Mayfields. They find their chances to slip away, to get up to no good, like Analeise sipping her daddy’s whiskey. It burns, everything is burning in her, nothing more than her desire for all things Mayfield.

Everything rushes at Analeise after the encounter with the Mayfileds, trouble between her parents, violence, death, a worsening mean streak, tasting music, and jealousy. Events make her a liar, and possibly worse. Things don’t improve the first day of school, where all the girls at school fuss over Marlissa. Analeise envies the pretty things, not even tales of personal tragedies can stop her nature, which seems to be turning wicked or is it the influence of someone, or something else? She is even turning away from sweet Etta Mae. She doesn’t understand anything that is happening.

The Mayfields aren’t so sweet, every character is flawed and Analeise is troubled by insecurities, guilt haunts her too. Jealousy is a common emotion for many children, coming of age, realizing the balance between the haves, the have nots and where they stand. She is ripe pickings for the madness of others. Even pretty little Marlissa is manipulative and not without the Mayfield charm. Charm is dangerous, so are secrets.

The Cicada Tree is a dark tale, burning everyone with secrets born of the Mayfield family. Analeise has become entangled in a tale of torment, but will she survive it while pulling everyone into the fire? It is an engaging, twisted tale with a dramatic southern flare. Yes, read it!

Publication date: February 22, 2022

Moonshine Cove Publishing