Tree Surgery for Beginners

by PatrickGale (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.26

  A vivid and compelling portrait of a man at odds with himself; and an extended family of friends and lovers trying to take its proper shape. Lawrence Frost has neither father nor siblings, and fits so awkwardly into his worldly mother's life he might have dropped from the sky. Like many such heroes, he grows up happier with plants than people. While he is straightforward, honest, and a doting dad, he can be a difficult, taciturn husband - but he's the last person one would suspect of being a killer. Waking one morning to find himself branded a wife-beater and under suspicion of murder, his small world falls apart as he loses wife, daughter, liberty, livelihood and, almost, his mind.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $3.52

  From the author of The Facts of Life comes a cunning mix of tragedy and comedy, featuring one man's journey to self-discovery. * As befits the hero of a modern fairy tale, Lawrence Frost has neither father nor siblings, and fits so awkwardly into his worldly mother's life, he might have dropped from the sky. Like many such a hero, he grows up happier with plants than people. Whilst he is straightforward, honest, and a doting dad, he can be a difficult, taciturn husband -- but he's the last person one would suspect of being a killer...* Waking one morning to find himself branded a wife-beater and under suspicion of murder, his small world falls apart as he loses wife, daughter, liberty, livelihood and, almost, his mind...* With a bold mixture of tragicomedy, harsh truth and sublime fantasy, Patrick Gale has created a vivid and compelling portrait of a man at odds with himself, and an extended family of friends and lovers trying to take its proper shape.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1998

  $10.24

  From the author of The Facts of Life comes a cunning mix of tragedy and comedy, featuring one man's journey to self-discovery.

  Lawrence Frost has a special relationship with all things green - his patience with plants and trees knows no bounds. His ability to get on with his wife, Bonnie, is another matter however. Having always taken her and his daughter Lucy for granted, under duress and out of jealousy he lashes out and suddenly loses both of them. The subsequent shock of his violent and conflicting emotions sends him off on a journey of penance that will take him across the Atlantic to America. Along the way he falls in love with an enigmatic chanteuse whose dramatic demise throws his life into further chaos. Finally, he finds sanctuary, alone, working in a Californian retreat and health spa, where he tends to the estate's flora. Here, he is eventually able to lay the ghosts from his past to rest before finding the peace and happiness which are necessary to mend his fractured family tree.