THE CICADA TREE - A Review
YA Fiction or Adult Fiction? This is the question that runs through one’s mind when reading THE CICADA TREE by Robert Gwaltney, published by Moonshine Cove Publishing. At an author’s event presented by The Atlanta Writer’s Club, Gwaltney explained how he had obtained an agent, who shopped around the manuscript. Time passed, and eventually Gwaltney decided to withdraw the manuscript from the agent and send it off to an indie publisher, who accepted and published it.
THE CICADA TREE is a fascinating read that becomes gripping after the first few chapters. Once the narrative gets you in that Mayfield Shine, it does not let you go until the end.
Yet the question still remains even after finishing the novel. Is this YA Fiction or Adult Fiction?
THE CICADA TREE’s protagonist is Analeise Newell, a young girl who admits that she has a mean streak. She is not particularly likeable throughout most of the book, and some of her actions causes real harm, emotional and physical, to the other characters of the book. There is a reason why she is the way she is, which is revealed as the book unfolds. Analeise’s father is a drunk, and she is friends with a black girl around her age, Etta Mae.
Both Analeise and Etta Mae have a gift for music. Analeise can taste the different flavors of music, consuming it like a meal. She is also a virtuoso at the piano. Etta Mae can influence the world around her when she sings, affecting nature and putting people in a trance. She has dreams of being an opera singer. The language of the novel is truly beautiful at times, the descriptions displaying some of that Mayfiend Shine, being able to suck the reader in with its charm.
THE CICADA TREE has antagonists, though at times Analeise’s actions are so unkind that she can almost be considered one of the them. However, in the town, there is a very rich and privileged family, and one day after the nearby private school burns down, the daughter of the rich family , Marlissa Mayfield, begins to attend Analeise’s school. As this story takes place during the 1950s in Georgia, there is still segregation, and Etta Mae goes to the colored school.
There are situations in THE CICADA TREE that probably made it a tough sale for major publishers, as the narrative is from the point of view of an 11 year old, which would normally place it in the YA category. Yet Gwaltney possibly takes too many narrative risks, and one can easily imagine this book creating the type of awkward conversations between teens and their parents that major publishers would want to avoid. But because of the age of the protagonist, it may have seemed difficult in figuring out how to advertise it to adult readers.
THE CICADA TREE was an excellent book, however, the type of narrative that can create a hurt that feels good as you read it. Some may consider it a bit too mature for eleven-year-old readers, though 15 and older should be fine. Adults may find it difficult getting into the beginning of the book because it is from the perspective of a child, but after the first few chapters, the story sweeps you up and does not let you go.
THE CICADA TREE is definitely a recommended read from Samjoko Magazine. It won the Somerset Award for Literary Fiction, and earned Robert Gwaltney the Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel award in 2023.
