The Eagle Tree is a heartening novel by Ned Hayes about opening your eyes more fully to the world around you. Peter March Wong is a teenager on the autistic spectrum with a deep passion for trees. He learns about a local ‘old growth’ tree, nicknamed “The Eagle Tree” and plans to climb the behemoth. As he gets closer to the tree and his goal, he learns this magnificent tree and its surrounds will be felled for housing. This is March’s story of trying to climb to the highest tree and reach new heights in many areas of his life.
Told from March’s perspective throughout, Ned Hayes does an amazing job of capturing the cadence of March’s distinct voice, obsessively observing the trees around him. What struck me was this author has really understood the depths to which these special interests, though often learnt by rote, preoccuopy the thoughts of the person. Though it may seem like a bundle of facts, as we see throughout this novel, a person’s passion can lead to deep connections. I loved this about this novel. We talk about repetitive behaviour and special interests often as if they are a problem to be solved, whereas they can be really be celebrated.
In this novel March’s obsessions allow him to make new relationships, and as he meets others who are interested too in saving the environment, we start to see how the world opens up for him. But also that he widens the world for others, both his vicar and therapist have moments where they show how much they have learnt from him. This positive note is so heartening, as a mother of a child on the autistic spectrum I do appreciate the hopeful message of the novel. It’s impossible not to think too of Greta Thurnberg when I read this novel and her amazing work. A young woman also on the spectrum, she has used her passion to ignite the world on these pressing environmental issues. Both this fictional character and real life person achieve so much because of their neurodiversity, rather than inspite of it which is more often the story told.
Although I really felt that this novel reaches to represent living on the autism spectrum well, there are moments of incredible sadness in the novel. Perhaps because we learn of them in drips of information via March, it is upsetting to see in some areas of his life, he is not helped to understand why his actions are dangerous or could harm him. In the final chapter, in particular, I was at once incredulous and frustrated by the jeopardy in the novel.
Overall I really feel this is a positive novel which will uplift and inform people. I am passionate about trees too and learnt so much from March that I can forgive some of the sensationalism near the end. I think this was the perfect book to end the year on. It is hopeful about human endeavour and speaks to the climate emergency which should preoccupy us all.
If you like this, I also recommend another book about a neurodiverse character Elvira Carr The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard
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