Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Avon (2017), Edition: Reprint, 464 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a powerful, emotionally complex story of love, loss, the pain of the past�??and the promise of the future. Sometimes the greatest dream starts with the smallest element. A single cell, joining with another. And then dividing. And just like that, the world changes. Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Los Angeles home they share. And now, she's pregnant with their first child. But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a yearlong coma, she discovers that time isn't the only thing she's lost. Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned judge. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm. Family Tree is the story of one woman's triumph over betrayal, and how she eventually comes to terms with her past. It is the story of joys unrealized and opportunities regained. Complex, clear-eyed and big-hearted, funny, sad, and wise, it is a novel to cherish and to remember.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member readinggeek451
Annie Rush is living the good life, with a husband she loves and her dream job producing their cooking show. When she has a devastating accident immediately after discovering that he is having an affair with his costar, her life is shattered in an instant. Now she must rebuild her life while
A charming, heartwarming romance with very real characters.
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reconnecting with her past, including her high school boyfriend Fletcher, now a judge. Their timing has always been bad, but now they have another chance. Can Annie overcome her fear of commitment without losing herself and her lifelong dream?A charming, heartwarming romance with very real characters.
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LibraryThing member susan0316
Annie Rush is the producer of a very successful cooking show starring her husband. They are in love and deliously happy. When she rushes to the set, to tell him that she's just found out she's pregnant, she finds out that their happy marriage was a sham. An accident on the set, puts her in a coma
I have always enjoyed Susan Wiggs books and I thought that this was one of her best. This was a wonderful romance and a fantastic story of recovery from the major changes in life. I highly recommend this novel - it was a great story with real characters that the Reader can really care about.
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for over a year. When she goes home to Vermont to recover, she finds her life completely changed. Will the town she grew up in, her family and her high school boyfriend be able to help her heal?I have always enjoyed Susan Wiggs books and I thought that this was one of her best. This was a wonderful romance and a fantastic story of recovery from the major changes in life. I highly recommend this novel - it was a great story with real characters that the Reader can really care about.
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LibraryThing member BooksCooksLooks
This is my first book by Ms. Wiggs but I am sure it will not be my last. As I’ve noted, I’m stepping outside of my usual reading box these days; I have not read many family dramas. Heck – I don’t read many books that take place in the 20ieth century let alone the 21st! I think it’s good
Annie grows up in a small town in Vermont where the family has a sugaring business. Her parents are divorced; her father left to pursue a dream and her mother was left to raise the children and maintain the family business. Due to this she makes sure that Annie leaves to pursue her dreams even though Annie has fallen in love. But Annie views her relationship through her mother’s experience and doesn’t trust it. She heads off to film school to follow her dreams.
She meets a man and together they seem to have it all. A hit TV show, a happy marriage and Annie just learns of some more good news. As she rushes to share it disaster strikes and her world explodes. Annie ends up in a coma and is sent home to her family. It is a long recovery after she wakes up and she is not sure what she wants. She is not sure who she is! As she remembers and learns friends and family remind her of what is truly important.
The book goes back and forth in time as Annie recovers and remembers. I generally don’t care for that in a book but it’s used to good effect here. In fact, I think it’s almost necessary due to the construct of the book. The characters are defined and I enjoyed their individual stories. It’s a very sweet story as one might expect from a tale circling around the making of maple syrup but it was one I enjoyed. It was a perfect book to read while sitting in the sun with a nice glass of lemonade. I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into Annie’s world even with it’s ups and downs.
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that I’m bringing my reading into the modern world.Annie grows up in a small town in Vermont where the family has a sugaring business. Her parents are divorced; her father left to pursue a dream and her mother was left to raise the children and maintain the family business. Due to this she makes sure that Annie leaves to pursue her dreams even though Annie has fallen in love. But Annie views her relationship through her mother’s experience and doesn’t trust it. She heads off to film school to follow her dreams.
She meets a man and together they seem to have it all. A hit TV show, a happy marriage and Annie just learns of some more good news. As she rushes to share it disaster strikes and her world explodes. Annie ends up in a coma and is sent home to her family. It is a long recovery after she wakes up and she is not sure what she wants. She is not sure who she is! As she remembers and learns friends and family remind her of what is truly important.
The book goes back and forth in time as Annie recovers and remembers. I generally don’t care for that in a book but it’s used to good effect here. In fact, I think it’s almost necessary due to the construct of the book. The characters are defined and I enjoyed their individual stories. It’s a very sweet story as one might expect from a tale circling around the making of maple syrup but it was one I enjoyed. It was a perfect book to read while sitting in the sun with a nice glass of lemonade. I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into Annie’s world even with it’s ups and downs.
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LibraryThing member Alphawoman
I never read chick lit so once I realized what I was doing I was sucked in, damn it.
a very quick read about a girl with a magical touch. anything she becomes involved with is instantly turned into gold!! her senior thesis? even before it was graded it was picked up by a fledgling FoodNetwork type
When she has to pick up the broken pieces of her life and start all over...piece of cake! Become an instant hit on Internet!!! Have another bigger network make an ever better lucrative deal!!
remember that 55 gallon bourbon barrel she filled with maple syrup 10 years ago? another sensation that becomes featured in O magazine and has a plug on the Today show!!
what's a girl to do with her Midas touch?
why go into a coma that brings her family together. she manages to reunite her parents who have been divorced/estranged for 20 years! then gets the last laugh on her nefarious ex-husband who divorced her while she was in the coma!
there was so much unrealistic b.s. in this novel I could have easily been at a Trump rally.
for instance, her mother changed the "children's " name to her maiden name after the divorce. the oldest was his son....18 years of age! apparently the father (now divorced ) liked the maiden name so much he also took it!! named his diving business after his wife's maiden. trust me...makes little sense.
then who gets into Harvard Law school with a pre law degree ftom the Internet? I don't care how high you score on your LSAT'
and it took him 3 years to get his Dad a settlement when a faulty equipment design cost him his leg. yet when faulty equipment falls on her and puts her into a year coma her hubs has settled and stolen her money before she woken up from her deep sleep!!
I could go on and on about the craziness of the plot!!
I know it's only chick lit and I kinda like it.
a very quick read about a girl with a magical touch. anything she becomes involved with is instantly turned into gold!! her senior thesis? even before it was graded it was picked up by a fledgling FoodNetwork type
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channel and an instant hit! When she has to pick up the broken pieces of her life and start all over...piece of cake! Become an instant hit on Internet!!! Have another bigger network make an ever better lucrative deal!!
remember that 55 gallon bourbon barrel she filled with maple syrup 10 years ago? another sensation that becomes featured in O magazine and has a plug on the Today show!!
what's a girl to do with her Midas touch?
why go into a coma that brings her family together. she manages to reunite her parents who have been divorced/estranged for 20 years! then gets the last laugh on her nefarious ex-husband who divorced her while she was in the coma!
there was so much unrealistic b.s. in this novel I could have easily been at a Trump rally.
for instance, her mother changed the "children's " name to her maiden name after the divorce. the oldest was his son....18 years of age! apparently the father (now divorced ) liked the maiden name so much he also took it!! named his diving business after his wife's maiden. trust me...makes little sense.
then who gets into Harvard Law school with a pre law degree ftom the Internet? I don't care how high you score on your LSAT'
and it took him 3 years to get his Dad a settlement when a faulty equipment design cost him his leg. yet when faulty equipment falls on her and puts her into a year coma her hubs has settled and stolen her money before she woken up from her deep sleep!!
I could go on and on about the craziness of the plot!!
I know it's only chick lit and I kinda like it.
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LibraryThing member JCGirl
Annie Rush has it all, a wonderful husband and career and a great house in Los Angeles, all the things any producer of a TV show would want. Tragedy strikes and her world becomes upside down. Now living in her hometown of Switchback, Vermont she must start her life over again. I love Susan Wiggs
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books, and Family Tree is her best one yet. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dianekeenoy
This is definitely Chick Lit which I knew going in. Again, I liked her previous books much better. So, it could be me but just not one of my favorites.
LibraryThing member pennykaplan
Annie Rush has it all, a Hollywood career as a producer, a handsome husband.....until it all collapses literally on her head when a scaffolding on the set falls. Her recovery back in Vermont shows her fame and fortune is not all.
LibraryThing member jbarr5
Family tree by Susan Wiggs
Have enjoyed other works by this author and know this one will be another good one.
Starts out with Annie and Martin and he's just left for work. They had an argument about the bison but she gave in. She had so much advice from her grandmother that really made life
They run their own cooking show...CJ is there to do an interview about her grandmother's cookbook. She had stated there's one key ingredient in each dish. Loved hearing about this as I put together two cookbooks for my mother in law in 2000s.
Martin does the cooking on the show and Annie produces it. On her way to tell him they are expecting she finds him with the female co host....
Story also follows Fletcher who lives in VT with his son. Teddy watches The Key Ingredient because he knows who is producing it and glad she doesn't appear in front of the screen...he had a crush on her when she lived in town...
Chapters go back in time and forward to the present making all the pieces of the puzzle fit.
Love the area and maple syrup process as we've seen it, experienced it for ourselves just last year. So much to learn. Author makes you feel like you are there with detailed descriptions of the food served. It makes your mouth water!
Love history of the town, so New England and details of the therapy. So many struggles for them all over the years and nothing goes as planned.
Love technical culinary interjections, priceless! Loved everything I learned from this book.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Have enjoyed other works by this author and know this one will be another good one.
Starts out with Annie and Martin and he's just left for work. They had an argument about the bison but she gave in. She had so much advice from her grandmother that really made life
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matter.They run their own cooking show...CJ is there to do an interview about her grandmother's cookbook. She had stated there's one key ingredient in each dish. Loved hearing about this as I put together two cookbooks for my mother in law in 2000s.
Martin does the cooking on the show and Annie produces it. On her way to tell him they are expecting she finds him with the female co host....
Story also follows Fletcher who lives in VT with his son. Teddy watches The Key Ingredient because he knows who is producing it and glad she doesn't appear in front of the screen...he had a crush on her when she lived in town...
Chapters go back in time and forward to the present making all the pieces of the puzzle fit.
Love the area and maple syrup process as we've seen it, experienced it for ourselves just last year. So much to learn. Author makes you feel like you are there with detailed descriptions of the food served. It makes your mouth water!
Love history of the town, so New England and details of the therapy. So many struggles for them all over the years and nothing goes as planned.
Love technical culinary interjections, priceless! Loved everything I learned from this book.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
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LibraryThing member LivelyLady
OK novel of cooking show producer who finds her husband with the co-host the day she finds out she is pregnant. A traumatic incident occurs and she returns home to Vermont, to her roots, and finds comfort in her "family tree." Plot kind of formulaeic. I enjoyed the description of the family's maple
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sugar business, whiskey making, and other food descriptions. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookchickdi
Pair a terrific family story with food, and you can bet it's a book I will be reading. Susan Wiggs' Family Tree tells the tale of Annie Rush, who grew up on a family-owned maple farm in Vermont, and dreams of moving away to pursue a life making documentaries about food.
Annie becomes a big success
They have a busy, happy life in Los Angeles until a tragedy hits, and Annie ends up back in Switchback, Vermont having to start all over again. The story moves back and forth in time, as we see Annie as a teenage girl, working long hours during maple syrup season, cooking with her beloved Gran, and falling in love with a transfer student.
Wiggs writes such intriguing, real characters, I felt like I knew them as friends. Annie's high school love, Fletcher, is such a great guy. He lives with his single dad, and more often than not is the adult in that family, even more so when his dad faces a traumatic event.
We learn so much in this book too. Wiggs shows the reader how a maple farm works, and how whiskey is distilled (through Annie's friend's family business). I found that endlessly fascinating.
The scenes set in the hospital and rehabilitation center were so well done, as we see how the daily challenges of relearning everything we take for granted can be so stressful.
I love descriptions of food, and there are plenty in here to savor. Annie's rustic cheddar, apple and beer soup that she made in a high school competition had me salivating. Gran's Cabot grated cheese sandwich with spring onions, radishes and mayo on thick bread would be perfect with that.
The description of the Thanksgiving feast that Annie brought to Fletcher and his dad had my stomach grumbling- "free range, organic chicken roasted in sage butter, homemade sweet potato hush puppies with sriracha ketchup, dressing with wild mushrooms and walnuts, garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, brandied cranberry compote and pumpkin pie in a maple pecan shell." Oh my goodness.
Annie's story touched my heart. She is an ambitious, determined, smart woman who loves her family, and when she needed them most, they were there for her. I didn't want to put Family Tree down, and I stayed up way too late last night finishing it. I didn't want it to end, and hope that Susan Wiggs brings us more of Annie's story. If you like the television show This Is Us, then put Family Tree on your TBR list.
Annie becomes a big success
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when she makes a documentary about Martin, a handsome man who owns a food truck in New York City. Her documentary becomes a viral sensation, and Annie ends up producing a hugely popular food show with Martin as the star.They have a busy, happy life in Los Angeles until a tragedy hits, and Annie ends up back in Switchback, Vermont having to start all over again. The story moves back and forth in time, as we see Annie as a teenage girl, working long hours during maple syrup season, cooking with her beloved Gran, and falling in love with a transfer student.
Wiggs writes such intriguing, real characters, I felt like I knew them as friends. Annie's high school love, Fletcher, is such a great guy. He lives with his single dad, and more often than not is the adult in that family, even more so when his dad faces a traumatic event.
We learn so much in this book too. Wiggs shows the reader how a maple farm works, and how whiskey is distilled (through Annie's friend's family business). I found that endlessly fascinating.
The scenes set in the hospital and rehabilitation center were so well done, as we see how the daily challenges of relearning everything we take for granted can be so stressful.
I love descriptions of food, and there are plenty in here to savor. Annie's rustic cheddar, apple and beer soup that she made in a high school competition had me salivating. Gran's Cabot grated cheese sandwich with spring onions, radishes and mayo on thick bread would be perfect with that.
The description of the Thanksgiving feast that Annie brought to Fletcher and his dad had my stomach grumbling- "free range, organic chicken roasted in sage butter, homemade sweet potato hush puppies with sriracha ketchup, dressing with wild mushrooms and walnuts, garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, brandied cranberry compote and pumpkin pie in a maple pecan shell." Oh my goodness.
Annie's story touched my heart. She is an ambitious, determined, smart woman who loves her family, and when she needed them most, they were there for her. I didn't want to put Family Tree down, and I stayed up way too late last night finishing it. I didn't want it to end, and hope that Susan Wiggs brings us more of Annie's story. If you like the television show This Is Us, then put Family Tree on your TBR list.
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LibraryThing member marciablnc
Since I am a nurse and used to work in neurotrauma, I found this book fascinating. The ending was predictable.
LibraryThing member kbranfield
4.5 stars.
Family Tree by Susan Wiggs is an emotionally compelling, poignant and humorous novel of healing and new beginnings.
Annie Rush has a career and husband she loves but in an instant, life as she knows it is gone. Following a tragic accident, she wakes up from a year long coma with gaps in
While her memories of current events are elusive, Annie has no trouble recalling her first love, Fletcher Wyndham. Despite their love for one another, the timing was never quite right for them and they finally broke up for good when Fletcher married someone else after Annie moved to California. Fletcher is recently divorced and firmly entrenched in Switchback and once they realize their feelings have never waned, he and Annie rekindle their romance. When an unexpected opportunity comes her way, will Annie chose her career? Or will she follow her heart?
Annie fell in love with cooking at her beloved Gran's side and from a young age, she always knew what she wanted out of life. With single-minded determination, she set about making her dreams come true. While she might have wavered briefly after falling in love with Fletcher, they came up with a realistic plan to be together once Annie went off to college. Unfortunately, life threw some unexpected obstacles in their path and their relationship was unable to survive these difficulties.
Annie's career took her in very unanticipated direction and with Fletcher out of the picture, she fell in love with another man. Her marriage to Martin was both a professional and personal collaboration as they worked together on a successful television cooking show. Despite a few ups and downs, Annie is completely satisfied with her life with her husband right up until the day of her accident. Eager to share her good news with Martin, she discovers a devastating secret minutes before the accident that culminated in the year long coma. Now picking up the pieces of her shattered life, Annie revisits both the joy and heartbreak of her past as she comes to terms with her present.
Fletcher is a genuinely kind-hearted man but he is stubborn and puts everyone else's needs ahead of his own. His perseverance pays off and he finds an unexpected career path through misfortune. With neither he nor Annie willing to compromise, they went their separate ways but Fletcher has no regrets about the way his life turned out. But with Annie back in town, he is more than willing to their relationship another chance but Fletcher is not at all prepared when it appears history is going to repeat itself once again.
With chapters that alternate between past and present, Family Tree is a beautifully rendered novel that is poignant yet ultimately uplifting. The characters are multi-faceted with flaws and human frailties that are easy to relate to. The storyline is well-written and engaging with realistic problems and situations for the characters to overcome. Susan Wiggs easily transitions into women's fiction with this heartfelt novel of renewal and love.
Family Tree by Susan Wiggs is an emotionally compelling, poignant and humorous novel of healing and new beginnings.
Annie Rush has a career and husband she loves but in an instant, life as she knows it is gone. Following a tragic accident, she wakes up from a year long coma with gaps in
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her memory and a long road of physical and occupational therapy ahead of her. Returning to her family's maple syrup farm in Switchback, Vermont, Annie's recovery is arduous but with her family's support, she slowly adjusts to her new "normal". While her memories of current events are elusive, Annie has no trouble recalling her first love, Fletcher Wyndham. Despite their love for one another, the timing was never quite right for them and they finally broke up for good when Fletcher married someone else after Annie moved to California. Fletcher is recently divorced and firmly entrenched in Switchback and once they realize their feelings have never waned, he and Annie rekindle their romance. When an unexpected opportunity comes her way, will Annie chose her career? Or will she follow her heart?
Annie fell in love with cooking at her beloved Gran's side and from a young age, she always knew what she wanted out of life. With single-minded determination, she set about making her dreams come true. While she might have wavered briefly after falling in love with Fletcher, they came up with a realistic plan to be together once Annie went off to college. Unfortunately, life threw some unexpected obstacles in their path and their relationship was unable to survive these difficulties.
Annie's career took her in very unanticipated direction and with Fletcher out of the picture, she fell in love with another man. Her marriage to Martin was both a professional and personal collaboration as they worked together on a successful television cooking show. Despite a few ups and downs, Annie is completely satisfied with her life with her husband right up until the day of her accident. Eager to share her good news with Martin, she discovers a devastating secret minutes before the accident that culminated in the year long coma. Now picking up the pieces of her shattered life, Annie revisits both the joy and heartbreak of her past as she comes to terms with her present.
Fletcher is a genuinely kind-hearted man but he is stubborn and puts everyone else's needs ahead of his own. His perseverance pays off and he finds an unexpected career path through misfortune. With neither he nor Annie willing to compromise, they went their separate ways but Fletcher has no regrets about the way his life turned out. But with Annie back in town, he is more than willing to their relationship another chance but Fletcher is not at all prepared when it appears history is going to repeat itself once again.
With chapters that alternate between past and present, Family Tree is a beautifully rendered novel that is poignant yet ultimately uplifting. The characters are multi-faceted with flaws and human frailties that are easy to relate to. The storyline is well-written and engaging with realistic problems and situations for the characters to overcome. Susan Wiggs easily transitions into women's fiction with this heartfelt novel of renewal and love.
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LibraryThing member CandyH
This is the story of the life of Annie Rush and the amazing recovery she makes from a horrific head injury and her year in a coma. This is such an amazing, interesting story. It’s well worth the readers time to pick up a copy of this book.
LibraryThing member AngelaLam
Masterful storytelling about a woman who discovers the secret to having it all after losing it all.
LibraryThing member Okies
Comment: Christina Traister narrates this book and did a terrible job of Martin, Annie's husband. Unfortunately, I read the précise of this soon after I started it, to see if it was something that I should persist with. This story arc, of tragedy and rehabilitation, is just not something I can
In addition, while I can see that Audible listeners have given this 4+ stars, I don't think I can stick with this not-so-great narration past Chapter 1/12 and through 11 more hours.
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take on right now. In addition, while I can see that Audible listeners have given this 4+ stars, I don't think I can stick with this not-so-great narration past Chapter 1/12 and through 11 more hours.
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LibraryThing member N.W.Moors
Annie Rush, producer for a successful cooking show, finds out she's pregnant, her husband is having an affair, and then gets hit in the head in a freak accident that puts her in a coma for a year. She wakes up to find herself back home in Vermont, not remembering much about her previous life. As
It's a charming story, very Hallmark in describing the Vermont countryside and life. The story goes back and forth between Annie's high school/college years and the present, sometimes from the POVs of her mother or her high school boyfriend, Fletcher. Some things took me out of the story occasionally: for example, Fletcher getting into Harvard Law School after taking college night courses, then becoming a lawyer and judge in what seemed to be about ten years, or Annie only being able to do a cooking show in LA, one that seemed high-budget for someone just out of college with no real experience.
Mostly, I enjoyed the story, though the ending seemed a bit forced. Why couldn't Annie do a show from her kitchen, a local affiliate, or even Burlington or Boston? Why the drama of having to move to Los Angeles? It cheapened her romance with Fletcher, in my opinion, that she couldn't make compromises in the third or fourth time she left him behind. His career was not as flexible at this point, but meh. Anyway, 3 1/2 stars.
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memories gradually return to her, she regains her strength and starts a new life.It's a charming story, very Hallmark in describing the Vermont countryside and life. The story goes back and forth between Annie's high school/college years and the present, sometimes from the POVs of her mother or her high school boyfriend, Fletcher. Some things took me out of the story occasionally: for example, Fletcher getting into Harvard Law School after taking college night courses, then becoming a lawyer and judge in what seemed to be about ten years, or Annie only being able to do a cooking show in LA, one that seemed high-budget for someone just out of college with no real experience.
Mostly, I enjoyed the story, though the ending seemed a bit forced. Why couldn't Annie do a show from her kitchen, a local affiliate, or even Burlington or Boston? Why the drama of having to move to Los Angeles? It cheapened her romance with Fletcher, in my opinion, that she couldn't make compromises in the third or fourth time she left him behind. His career was not as flexible at this point, but meh. Anyway, 3 1/2 stars.
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LibraryThing member lexilewords
By no means is this a normal read for me. Largely I stay away from this branching of fiction because...well I hate reality so I don't want to read about it.
But I received this for review (from William Morrow) and I do have a fondness for Wiggs' historicals. Also this is as unlikely to devolve into
Overall, not so bad. A bit glossy and "this could only occur in fiction" feel to it, but enjoyable in its own way. I liked that Annie figured out pretty quickly what she didn't need in her life after the accident. She prioritized her needs and that was important. It was also refreshing that when she got the life she deserved it wasn't at the expense of anything important.
In any other circumstance I wouldn't have read this, but in this weekend, after the tragedy I had been reading, this book helped lift my spirits and that's all I ask for from my reading.
But I received this for review (from William Morrow) and I do have a fondness for Wiggs' historicals. Also this is as unlikely to devolve into
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a zombie apocalypse as possible and after reading several stories in RISE I needed something like this.Overall, not so bad. A bit glossy and "this could only occur in fiction" feel to it, but enjoyable in its own way. I liked that Annie figured out pretty quickly what she didn't need in her life after the accident. She prioritized her needs and that was important. It was also refreshing that when she got the life she deserved it wasn't at the expense of anything important.
In any other circumstance I wouldn't have read this, but in this weekend, after the tragedy I had been reading, this book helped lift my spirits and that's all I ask for from my reading.
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Language
Original language
English
Physical description
6.75 inches
ISBN
0062425447 / 9780062425447