The Tree of Heaven

"The Tree of Heaven" by May Sinclair is a novel written during the early 20th century. The book unfolds the life of Frances Harrison, a mother who contemplates her family dynamics while interacting with her children, her relatives, and her husband, Anthony. The opening portrays the intricate relationship between motherhood, family, and personal contentment against the backdrop of societal expectations. The opening of the novel introduces Frances as she relaxes in her garden under a tree referred to as the "Tree of Heaven." Her tranquil afternoon is filled with the sounds of her children preparing for a party, each child's personality emerging through their interactions. While Frances enjoys peaceful moments, she is subtly burdened by the obligations of family, particularly concerning visits from her mother and sisters. The chapter captures the tension between her desire for solitude and her responsibilities to her family's collective happiness, highlighting themes of motherhood, familial relationships, and the complexities of maintaining personal peace amidst familial commitments. This nuanced exploration sets the tone for the challenges and dynamics Frances faces throughout the narrative. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St. Clair, a popular British writer who wrote about two dozen novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers' Suffrage League. She once dressed up as a demure, rebel Jane Austen for a suffrage fundraising event. Sinclair was also a significant critic in the area of modernist poetry and prose, and she is attributed with first using the term 'stream of consciousness' in a literary context, when reviewing the first volumes of Dorothy Richardson's novel sequence Pilgrimage (1915–1967), in The Egoist, April 1918.