The Trees Remember

The Trees Remember, the third novel of the historical trilogy by the same name, concludes the epic story of Rebecca Wagner—a young woman born in 1903 in Juniata County, Pennsylvania who is struggling to find her true identity. Ever since Rebecca discovers her hidden American Indian bloodline, she faces the difficult decision whether to live her life as a white woman or risk facing hostility and rejection from those she has pledged to serve as a nurse. As she continues to take care of the people of the small rural town of McAlisterville and the "wood hicks" who labor in the surrounding primitive and dangerous mountain lumber camps, she encounters threats to her livelihood and all she holds dear. However, they aren't the only ones who try to intimidate her and her beloved mentor and Iroquois grandmother, Back So Straight. Despite violence against her, Back So Straight continues to teach Rebecca the power of plants and trees to heal body, mind and spirit. Will Rebecca reveal her true heritage and succumb to the prejudice and malice of those who accuse her of being a heathen—or will she live a lie to protect herself and those she loves?

In the previous two novels—The Trees Inspire and The Trees Endure, set in rural Pennsylvania from 1897 to 1903—Rebecca Wagner longs to be more than a farm girl. After becoming a trained nurse, she returns to the Juniata Valley eager to forge her own path as an independent woman—working for the town doctor, and in the primitive and hostile lumber camps in the Shade Mountains where she is threatened by man and beast. In this final novel, Rebecca must decide whether to live her life as white woman or reveal her true lineage and face losing her quest to be the healer she has worked so hard to become. But her mixed race and the destruction of the forests in the nearby Shade Mountains undermine everything she believes in. However, one thing does remain clear: Ben, the man Rebecca's has loved for many years has accepted her heritage and agrees to marry her in a secret Iroquois ceremony near the family farm. What they don't know is that their secret ceremony is no longer a secret. When they try to marry in the church the preacher calls off the wedding, claiming the council won't marry them because they participate in heathen ceremonies. In hopes of saving their reputation, they are quietly married by a justice of the peace. Over the next year, Rebecca continues to work in the town doctor's office, but a growing number of men and women refuse to have her treat them. Soon her reputation as a nurse is threatened by those who accuse her of being a heathen. To make matters more difficult, when she travels to the dangerous lumber camps to take care of the "wood hicks," they won't allow her to touch them. When their rejections jeopardize her livelihood, Rebecca fears for her future. More trouble ensues as Ben's buggy business is experiencing the same accusations from its customers, forcing him to try to find another way to support himself and his new wife. Tensions grow between them, along with the realization that the coming perils of winter will force them to leave the small cabin where they have been living deep in the mountains. Soon violence against Rebecca's Iroquois mentor Back So Straight escalates. First the plants and herbs she stores in her cabin are burned. Then forest fires, clear cutting, and the erosion that takes with it small trees, shrubs, and plants, denude the mountainsides and fill the streams with silt. When her beloved dog is shot and killed, Back so Straight loses her only remaining link to her family. Finally, her cabin is burned to the ground, forcing her to live in a cave in the mountains. When a group of men try to rebuild her home, the church council refuses to permit them to finish. Despite her losses, Back So Straight continues to teach Rebecca about the plants and trees her ancestors used to heal for thousands of years. But now that the nearby mountains are ruined, they need to travel far into the neighboring mountains to find them. While a lumber camp closes because the "wood hicks" develop consumption, and another when the horses suffer from disease, the only remaining camp is declining from over- harvesting. Rebecca's livelihood begins to disappear like the surrounding forests. Adding to her worries, Rebecca's father loses his hand in a lumber mill accident and becomes increasingly aware of his plight: a domineering wife, daughter and son whom he has alienated, land he cannot farm, and work he can no longer do. The situation becomes particularly perilous after Rebecca gives birth to a long-awaited daughter. Now she must decide whether to reveal her heritage—realizing that if she does, she and those closest to her may be dangerously threatened by the truth.

Drawing on her career in women's health and inspired by the forests of Juniata County, Pennsylvania where she helped build a log cabin, Joyce Kieffer envisioned a young woman's coming-of-age story—beginning her journey to become a healer set against the backdrop of the State's burgeoning lumber industry as thousands of acres of virgin timber fell to ever-wealthier lumber barons. Set in the late 1800's and early 1900's, The Trees Remember, is a historical trilogy about her odyssey from her family farm in the forest foothills— to the Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses— and back again to her forest homeland where she works for the town doctor caring for people whose only hospital is more than seven hours away on horseback— and in the primitive and dangerous lumber camps. The Trees Inspire, The Trees Endure and The Trees Remember are about love, courage, and above all, truth. Although the novels are set over a century ago, Joyce addresses issues relevant to today: environmental; racial; socioeconomic; and gender. Superimposed on these themes are the lush, beautiful forests and the flora and fauna that call them home, the rich cultural stories of life in rural Pennsylvania where farming is a way of life, and the Native American wisdom and respect for the plants, soil, and water we all share. More about Joyce's Roots Joyce began her nursing career after graduating from the Lancaster General Hospital School of Nursing as a pediatric nurse while working her way through Millersville University. After graduating, she became an instructor of obstetric nursing at Harrisburg Hospital School of Nursing. It was during those years that she discovered her passion for advocating for a mother's autonomy during childbirth. She became a pioneer in establishing the first organized childbirth classes, and eight years later Joyce was recruited by Harrisburg Hospital to build a comprehensive childbirth education program that included a team of teachers that provided a wide variety of childbirth preparation methods, breast feeding support, and educational offerings for grandparents, babysitters, siblings and doulas. Her leadership in promoting and establishing Family-Centered Maternity Care was instrumental in changing birth practices and bringing a more collaborative relationship between parents and their caregivers. Parallel to her work in childbirth education, Joyce wrote To Have . . . To Hold, a Parents Guide to Childbirth and Early Parenting with nearly a million copies sold in seven editions between 1979 and 2001. She was a prominent speaker at hospitals where her book was used as a "textbook" to promote wellness and active participation in pregnancy, childbirth and the early weeks as new parents. A pioneering champion of women's health throughout her 55-year career, Joyce followed her passion for health education and prevention of disease by co-developing health education and resource centers for women, until retiring from her career in 2001. She then began a parish nursing practice, serving her congregation while also contributing to a team of philanthropists establishing a new tuition-free school for inner-city middle school boys. After her "second career" where she worked with a cadre of nurses providing health screenings for businesses and the public, she retired for the final time and once again picked up her author's pen to take on her lifelong dream of writing a historic novel. Joyce lives with her husband in central Pennsylvania, her daughters and their families nearby—a short hour's drive away from the mountain cabin in the Shade Mountains that birthed the story.