The Keeper of the Trees (Ronsdale Press, 1999) is a fantasy novel for ages 9 – 12. It’s set in London, England, and revolves around Elizabeth, a Canadian girl from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who’s stuck living with her aunt while her dad is a student at a nearby university. Elizabeth’s friendship with a homeless woman named Maud turns into an apprenticeship when Maud becomes ill and must pass on a job important to London’s stressed environment – Keeper of the horse chestnut trees. This role involves supporting mystical creatures which appear from the Otherworld and whose presence is integral to the survival of these trees, and Elizabeth must protect these fragile animals—and Aunt Julia—from the evil Hunter. Lucky she has her friend Fraze to help her…if he is a friend. Or is he the enemy after all…?
This is a London cab much like
the one belonging to HNTR.
I lived in London when I wrote this book, and even though a lot of it is imagined, there’s also a great deal of real material in it. I knew a kid like Elizabeth who, each time she changed schools in London, had to learn a new style of handwriting—very time consuming!
This is Elizabeth's flat on
Doughty Street, London.
The explanatory myth at the heart of the story—how the horse chestnut trees got their name—started when I began examining the branches of these trees and noticed tiny horseshoe-shaped prints on the bark—a phenomenon on which I couldn’t find a factual explanation. And I had a neighbor who ate friendship soup, just like Elizabeth’s family does, and finds a cat’s tooth on the spoon. Lots of situations like these—that I experience first or second-hand—find their way into my writing. It’s kind of like what teachers often say: Write what you know. Easier than making up everything, that’s for sure! But you have to be careful if your writing about someone is recognizable—ask the person first if they mind!
This is the Corams' Fields from the
book, with the majestic horse-chestnut
trees at the far side.