The Nightmare Tree
The reasons for writing The Nightmare Tree have emerged for me over the process of the six years it has taken to write it. The kernel of the novel lay in the premise of a boy who idealized his parents, only to discover some aspect of their human weakness. The narrative would follow the boy's discovery and, I believed, his reconciliation with the new knowledge about his parent. It was not until Coteau Books accepted the work, and I was involved in some revisions, that the meaning of that basic premise emerged: the story was about me and my relationship with my parents. I was Jonah who reconciled himself to his father's human weakness. I was also Francis, Jonah's father, confronting the reality that my own children will painfully discover my frailty as a father and a human being. Thus I ultimately wrote the book, it seems, to understand the generational relationships in my life, with my parents and my own children.  The Nightmare Tree has taught me that the only meaningful way through human brokenness is sacrificial love-- giving life to others though they do not deserve it. Jonah's father does not deserve his sons efforts to rescue him. But what is the alternative but a continuing cycle of dysfunction? By taking his father's place in the Nightmare Tree, Jonah offers the only answer possible. He breaks the cycle of selfishness that lies at the heart of all human relationships. He recognizes that we must love in spite of everything. Although the ones we love may or may not be redeemed by our love, but we still need to love them in order to maintain our own humanity.