Book Review: Memory Tree

Memory Tree. Bill Mathis, Rogue Phoenix Press, April 27, 2021, Paperback and eBook, 215 pages.

Reviewed by David Steven Rappoport.

Memory Tree is a poignant novel about a dying man, his relationship with his caretaker, and his entanglements with his already deceased family members. The book is metaphysically complex, describing death as a kind of conscious but constrained areligious limbo. Mathis says of the novel:

To me, Memory Tree encapsulates many levels of life: secrets, race, racism, revenge, regrets, death, love and hope. I believe we are made from the elements of stardust and return to similar elements when we die.

Eula, a dead child suspended in Mathis’ transitional post-life state, opens the novel. 

She seems to be waiting to be released into eternity, but something is holding her back. The narrative shifts to the story of her dying father, Duane, and his caretaker, Retha. Duane is white and Retha is Black. Duane is a racist, but the complexities are greater than that. Retha encourages Duane to talk about his life, and his story spills out. Eventually, as redemptive secrets are revealed, we learn that Retha and Duane are connected by the unnatural deaths of others.

Mathis was a finalist in the Chicago Writers’ Association’s First Chapter Contest two years in a row. As with all of Mathis’ novels, Memory Tree is well-crafted, and its handling of diverse characters is a particular strength. Mathis is interested in people, not plot. Further, he lacks intrinsic cynicism. Mathis seems willing to forgive his characters for almost anything, even murder. This belief in redemption might be read as sentimental. Those who share Mathis’ literary weltanschauung—Anne Frank not Fyodor Dostoevsky—may see his work as refreshing.

Memory Tree is an artful contribution to the Mathis canon, exhibiting his hallmark skill at characterization in a compelling story of regret.