Home

Suckerfish Menu

  • Home
  • Store Info
    • Store Hours and Contacts
    • Directions
    • The 'Ins' and 'Outs' of Online Ordering
    • Used Book Cellar
    • Affiliate Program
    • Job Opportunities
    • Wish Lists
  • Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Cooking the Books
    • Lunchtime Book Group
    • Storytime Themes
  • Local Authors
    • Nichole Bernier
    • Howie Carr
    • Ben Coes
    • Jacqueline Davies
    • Erin Dionne
    • Mark Peter Hughes
    • Jane Kohuth
    • Susan Lubner
    • Susan Lynn Meyer
    • Margaret Moore & Paul Hammerness
    • Maryanne O'Hara
    • Stephen Puleo
    • E.S. Redmond
    • Ronald B. Scott
    • Elizabeth Suneby
    • Mike Urban
    • Kevin Walsh
    • Drew Yanno
  • Newsletter
    • May 15, 2013
    • May 1, 2013
    • April 17, 2013
    • April 3, 2013
    • March 20, 2013
    • March 6, 2013
    • February 21, 2012
    • February 6, 2013
    • January 23, 2013
    • January 9, 2013
  • Our Bestsellers
    • Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers
    • Hardcover Non-fiction Bestsellers
    • Paperback Bestsellers
    • Kids Bestsellers
  • Recommendations
    • Bookseller Picks
      • Alexa recommends
      • Allison recommends
      • Barry recommends
      • Betty recommends
      • Bill recommends
      • Deb recommends
      • Emma recommends
      • Gillian recommends
      • Gwenyth recommends
      • Jane recommends
      • Jessica recommends
      • Kym recommends
      • Lisa recommends
      • Lorna recommends
      • Margaret recommends
      • Marilyn recommends
      • Mayre recommends
      • Melinda recommends
      • Pete recommends
      • Rebecca recommends
      • Sally recommends
    • Top Sellers of 2012
    • ARC Reviewer Program

Shop for books here!


Advanced Search

Shopping cart

View your shopping cart.

Your Account

  • My Account

The Roots of the Olive Tree (Hardcover)

By Courtney Miller Santo
$25.99
Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Related Editions
  • eBook (8/2012): $9.99
  • Paperback (4/2013): $14.99
  • Hardcover (8/2012): $25.99
More...

Description


Meet the Keller family, five generations of firstborn women—an unbroken line of daughters—living together in the same house on a secluded olive grove in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California.

Anna, the family matriarch, is 112 and determined to become the oldest person in the world. An indomitable force, strong in mind and firm in body, she rules Hill House, the family home she shares with her daughter Bets, granddaughter Callie, great-granddaughter Deb, and great-great-granddaughter Erin. Though they lead ordinary lives, there is an element of the extraordinary to these women: the eldest two are defying longevity norms. Their unusual lifespans have caught the attention of a geneticist who believes they hold the key to breakthroughs that will revolutionize the aging process for everyone.

But Anna is not interested in unlocking secrets the Keller blood holds. She believes there are some truths that must stay hidden, including certain knowledge about her origins that she has carried for more than a century. Like Anna, each of the Keller women conceals her true self from the others. While they are bound by blood and the house they share, living together has not always been easy. And it is about to become more complicated now that Erin, the youngest, is back, alone and pregnant, after two years abroad with an opera company. Her return and the arrival of the geneticist who has come to study the Keller family ignites explosive emotions that these women have kept buried and uncovers revelations that will shake them all to their roots.

Told from varying viewpoints, Courtney Miller Santo's compelling and evocative debut novel captures the joys and sorrows of family—the love, secrets, disappointments, jealousies, and forgiveness that tie generations to one another.

About the Author


Courtney Miller Santo grasped the importance of stories from listening to her great-grandmother, who lives in Northern California. She learned to write stories in the journalism program at Washington and Lee University and then discovered the limits of true stories working as a reporter in Virginia. She teaches creative writing at the University of Memphis, where she earned her MFA. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, Irreantum, Sunstone, and Segullah. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, two children, and dog. Her most prized possession is a photo of five generations of the women in her own family.

Product Details ISBN-10: 006213051X
ISBN-13: 9780062130518
Published: William Morrow, 08/01/2012
Pages: 320
Language: English
Related Editions (all)
  • eBook (8/2012): $9.99
  • Paperback (4/2013): $14.99
  • Hardcover (8/2012): $25.99
  • Family Life
  • Contemporary Women
  • About Kobo eBooks
  • Browse eBooks

Find a wish list

Enter the email to use to search wish list titles and addresses.

Upcoming Events

  • Bill's Book Club for Guys
    Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - 7:00pm
  • B.A. Shapiro author of "The Art Forger"
    Thursday, May 30, 2013 - 7:00pm
  • Lunchtime Book Club -" The Snow Child" & "What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank"
    Tuesday, June 4, 2013 - 12:00pm
  • Cooking the Books presents Joanne Chang
    Tuesday, June 4, 2013 - 7:00pm
  • Sarah Dessen to share her new book "The Moon and More"
    Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - 7:00pm
Read More

Gift Cards



Click here to check your Gift Card balance.

Customer Login

  • Create new account
  • Request new password
 
Copyright © Wellesley Books