The Willow Tree (novel)

For other uses, see The Willow Tree.
The Willow Tree

First edition
Author Hubert Selby Jr
Country United States
Language English
Genre Modern tragedy
Publisher Marion Boyars Publishers
Publication date
1998
Media type Print
ISBN 978-0-7145-3139-7
Preceded by Requiem for a Dream

The Willow Tree is a novel written by Hubert Selby, Jr.[1] and was published in 1998. It was Selby's first novel in twenty years, since 1978's Requiem for a Dream.

Plot summary

The protagonist is a fifteen-year-old African American boy named Bobby who lives in an apartment in South Bronx with his mother and siblings. Despite his young age Bobby has intelligence that is superior to most of the people around him. Bobby's Hispanic girlfriend Maria often spend time together and have plans for the upcoming summer. Bobby and Maria's lives are shattered when a vicious Hispanic street gang attack Bobby and Maria while the two were walking to school. Bobby and Maria are severely beaten and Maria is sent to the hospital suffering from near-fatal wounds. After Bobby is beaten he gets picked up by an old Holocaust survivor named Moishe and an unlikely friendship between Bobby and Moishe begins. Maria, unable to cope with the mutilation of her face caused by the lye, commits suicide. We hear Moishe talking about his tragic story while he was in a concentration camp, while Bobby tells Moishe what has happened to him and Maria. Bobby states that deep in his mind, he still has a desperate need for revenge.

Release details

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/7/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.