The
Lightning Tree
In the story, Ursula and Jerry meet as teenagers in Newcastle, united by outrage at the world and a desire to live differently. They fall in love.
As their lives unfold, they are pulled in different directions - towards activism, education, spirituality and personal reinvention – as their lives drift in and out of each others orbit, until finally Ursula is forced to make a decision between pursuing her spiritual longings or her love for Jerry.
A parallel story emergs of Ursula’s great-grandmother whose own moment of spiritual freedom as a young woman is so frightening to her, and so dispproved of by her community, that she shuts it down completely and becomes fixed into rigid puritanical religious belief.
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“
Woof’s lyrical storytelling moves effectively through time and place (and) the result is transcendent. What unfolds is a story not just of young love but of how to cope when it is lost and shattered.
Financial Times
"Forgive me, she whispers. Please God forgive me. The Bible lies on the track, its pages lifting in the wind. God does not answer. So be it. She will not walk with Him. She will walk in the world of her father and relish its pleasures. The sun glints on the track below her. In her mind she can still see the lozenge of gold on the floor of the Brethren’s Meeting Hall. As the frustrations of her mother burns in her cheek, she commits her life to her own God, and makes her vow : mine will be a life of beautiful things."
Reviews
"A love story at its heart, it also explores the many strange ways in which our lives branch out and intersect. Even more daringly, it captures those rare moments of transcendence that elude not just words but understanding, yet still have the power to shape a life. As such, Emily Woof could easily have fallen foul of feyness or whimsy, but in fact, as her time-lapse narrative spools out, there is not a page of this sympathetic novel that isn’t illuminated by her verve and wit."
The Lady
"A clever and touching story"
The Times
"Add…A poignant love fable that rings loud with the recognition of truth."
Grazia
"The Lightning Tree is a more ambitious book than One Day, moving away from the relationship much of the time to focus on themes of class, family and religion. There are undertones of Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot, which also sees its college-age protagonists wade through issues of love and spirituality while looking for answers."
Irish Times
"An unusual but convincing love story that charts the often-distant lives of her two distinctive and appealing characters, written with wit and a lyrical flourish."
Daily Mail
“A blasted tree stands on the edge of the scree. An astonishing sight, its branches fracturing the sky. It is full of a wild energy, frozen into an eternal stillness.
It’s like Lightning! shouts Ursula, running towards it.
She turns to Ganny Mary and shoots her arms up to the sky in a jagged shape imitating the tree, holding the pose.
I’m going to climb it!”
