The Money Tree

TThe Frisbys have been growing money for ten years on their island farm, and have nearly perfected the art.

The Frisbys have been growing money for ten years on their island farm, and George has nearly perfected the art. Jane tolerates the temperamental money tree while worrying about its legality and her family’s safety. She also worries about the children. Daffy (18) is torn between careers in terrorism and economics (“How do we get from bad money to good money without going through hyperinflation?”), while 12-year-old Mike divides the world into soakers and soakees and wants to franchise the money tree. For ten years, the Frisbys have been harvesting their annual crop, and flawless Frisby dollars have been circulating freely. Then the Secret Service takes notice, and when forensic analysis proves dollars can be grown on trees, agents begin a rapid but stealthy search for the source, a search that soon turns international. Examining the stability of our monetary system, The Money Tree explores old money like silver coinage and new digital currencies like Bitcoin. At heart, though, this is a story of a close-knit family and its island neighbors.

Helen Yeomans was born in England and raised in Canada. She worked in book publishing in Toronto and London, then launched her own firm, providing editing and later writing services to corporate clients worldwide. She began writing fiction more than 20 years ago. Although published three years ago, "Owen's Day" was written in the early 1990s, intended to build on the success of an earlier nonfiction book, "The Christmas Carol Handbook" published in 1987. Her second novel, "Ang Tak" ("Little Tiger"), was published in March 2012, the story of an amateur golfer and his caddy at the Masters. In November 2013 came "The Money Tree," about a close-knit family living on the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, and their unusual trees. The story explores the stability of paper money and family. Helen Yeomans is currently working on her fourth novel. In addition to writing, she is an avid golfer, and enjoys movies, singing and classical music.