The Overstory

The Overstory

First edition cover
Author	Richard Powers
Cover artist	Albert Bierstadt (art) Evan Gaffney (design)
Language	English
Genre	Environmental fiction
Publisher	W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date	April 3, 2018
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print
Pages	612
Awards	Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2019)
ISBN	978-0-393-63552-2 (hardcover)
OCLC	988292556
Dewey Decimal	813/.54
LC Class	PS3566.O92 O94 2018

The Overstory is a novel by American author Richard Powers, published in 2018 by W. W. Norton & Company. The book follows nine Americans whose unique life experiences with trees bring them together to address the destruction of forests. Through interwoven narratives spanning multiple generations, the novel explores themes of environmental activism, the interconnectedness of living things, and humanity's relationship with the natural world.

The book received widespread critical acclaim and won several major literary awards, including the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2020 William Dean Howells Medal. It was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. Critics praised Powers's narrative structure, focus on environmental themes, and his ability to weave together scientific facts about trees with human drama.

A television adaptation is in development by Netflix, with David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Hugh Jackman serving as executive producers.

Plot summary

The Overstory interweaves the stories of nine main characters whose lives become deeply connected to trees and forests. The narrative spans multiple generations and locations across the United States.

The novel begins with the Hoel family in the mid-1800s, as Jørgen Hoel plants six chestnuts on his Iowa farm. Only one survives, and subsequent generations of Hoels photograph this tree monthly. The tradition continues until Nicholas Hoel, an art student, finds his family dead from a gas leak.

Olivia Vandergriff, a college student, experiences a near-death experience that leads her to join environmental activists in California. On her journey west, she meets Nicholas, and they join forces to protect old-growth forests.

Adam Appich, a psychology student, becomes involved with the activists while researching group behavior. Mimi Ma, an engineer, and Douglas Pavlicek, a Vietnam War veteran, also join the movement to save the redwoods.

Patricia Westerford, a dendrologist, faces ridicule for her theories about tree communication but later gains recognition for her groundbreaking research. Neelay Mehta, a computer programmer, creates a virtual world inspired by the complexity of forest ecosystems.

As the activists' efforts intensify, they resort to more extreme measures. Olivia, Nicholas, Adam, Mimi, and Douglas form a group that engages in eco-terrorism, burning logging equipment. During their final mission, an explosion kills Olivia.

The group disbands, and each member faces a different fate. Adam is arrested and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Douglas turns himself in to protect Mimi. Nicholas becomes a drifter, creating environmental art. Mimi changes her identity and becomes a therapist.

Patricia continues her research and establishes a seed bank to preserve plant species. She is invited to speak at a conference of influential people, where she delivers a powerful message about saving the world, before taking her own life onstage.

Throughout the novel, the characters' stories intersect and diverge, mirroring the interconnected nature of forest ecosystems. Powers uses these human narratives to explore themes of environmental activism, the relationship between humans and nature, and the long-term impact of human actions on the natural world.

The Overstory challenges traditional notions of storytelling by giving equal importance to the lives of trees and forests. Powers employs a narrative structure that reflects the layered complexity of forest ecosystems, with the human stories forming the "understory" and the overarching narrative of trees and forests representing the "overstory".

By combining scientific facts about trees with compelling human drama, Powers creates a novel that is both a work of fiction and a call to environmental action. The Overstory asks readers to reconsider their relationship with nature and their role in preserving the world's forests.

Themes

The Overstory explores several key themes, including:

• Interconnectedness of life – Powers highlights the symbiotic relationships between humans and trees, illustrating how ecological networks function harmoniously. 
• Environmental activism and ethics – the novel examines the moral dilemmas its characters face in their struggle to protect forests, questioning the ethical boundaries of activism.
• Communication beyond humanity – Trees are depicted as sentient beings capable of communication, challenging anthropocentric perspectives of language and interaction.

Characters

The novel features a diverse cast of characters, each with their own unique connection to trees and the environment:

• Douglas Pavlicek – a Vietnam War veteran who survives a crash landing by falling into a tree. He becomes an environmental activist but later works for the forest service. Douglas betrays the cause by turning in Adam, leading to the latter's conviction.
• Olivia Vandergriff – after a near-death experience, Olivia becomes deeply involved in radical environmentalism, particularly focused on saving redwoods. She dies in an act of arson committed by her group.
• Patricia Westerford – a hearing-impaired botanist who develops unconventional theories about plant consciousness and tree communication. She faces challenges in gaining acceptance from the scientific community for her groundbreaking work. The character was heavily inspired by the life and work of UBC forest ecologist Suzanne Simard. In the story, Westerford pens a popular science book, The Secret Forest, whose title alludes to real-world books such as The Hidden Life of Trees by German forester Peter Wohlleben, The Secret Life of Trees by British science writer Colin Tudge, and Finding the Mother Tree by Simard herself.
• Adam Appich – an academic who joins the group of environmental activists. His father planted a tree before the birth of each of his children; as a child, Adam conflated the characteristics of each tree with his siblings. He is eventually arrested and sentenced to a lengthy prison term, which he accepts with a philosophical attitude.
• Mimi Ma – an engineer who becomes an environmental activist alongside Douglas. They form a romantic relationship, united by their shared cause.
• Nicholas Hoel – an artist who comes from a long line of farmers and whose great-great-great grandfather planted a chestnut tree that survived blight for decades and enthralled the Hoel family for generations.
• Ray and Dorothy – a married couple whose story intertwines with the larger narrative. Dorothy contemplates leaving Ray but ultimately stays with him after he suffers a brain aneurysm, finding new meaning in their relationship and connection to nature.
• Neelay Mehta – the child of Indian immigrants to California who becomes paralyzed after falling from a tree. He goes on to become a computer programming marvel, eventually creating a series of video games called Mastery, inspired by trees, deforestation, and colonization.
• Trees – Powers portrays the trees themselves as characters in the novel, exploring their potential for agency and interconnectedness.

Reception

Critical reception

The Overstory received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. According to Book Marks, which aggregates professional book reviews, the novel garnered predominantly positive coverage based on seventeen critic reviews: nine "rave", five "positive", two "mixed", and one "pan" review. Similarly, on Books in the Media, the novel attained a rating based on six professional reviews.

Major publications offered predominantly positive perspectives on the novel. In The New York Times, author Barbara Kingsolver praised its ambitious scope and intricate narrative structure, which she compared to the rings of a tree. Kingsolver particularly commended Powers's ability to weave together the lives of nine diverse characters through their connections to trees and the natural world, ultimately describing the work as a monumental achievement that challenges readers' relationship with nature. Similarly, author Ron Charles, in The Washington Post, provided an enthusiastic endorsement, declaring that the "ambitious novel soars up through the canopy of American literature and remakes the landscape of environmental fiction".

Reviews in The Guardian reflected the novel's impact on critics. Writer Benjamin Markovits lauded the book as an "astonishing performance", praising Powers's ambitious narrative structure and profound exploration of humanity's relationship with trees. While noting the novel's vast scope, Markovits emphasized how Powers successfully maintained a compelling and cohesive storyline, weaving together multiple characters' lives to underscore the interconnectedness of all life. He particularly praised Powers's ability to generate "narrative momentum out of thin air, again and again". However, another Guardian reviewer criticized the work as an "increasingly absurd melodrama".

The Atlantic characterized the work as "darkly optimistic" in its perspective that while humanity might be doomed, trees would endure.

In Bookmarks magazine, which synthesizes professional reviews, the novel received a rating. The publication's critical consensus noted that, with the exception of the Scotsman's criticism of the book's length and verbosity, reviewers praised Powers's expansive vision and his profound message about humanity's relationship with and ongoing damage to the natural world. Library Journal described the work as "a deep meditation on the irreparable psychic damage that manifests in our unmitigated separation from nature".

The Los Angeles Review of Books observed that "the human lives are only the novel's 'understory'", arguing that Powers successfully makes "a story of the considerably extended timeline of the trees, not the humans". Critics noted the work's formal innovation, with the Kenyon Review stating it "demonstrates that a novel doesn't have to come down to human emotion" and represents "an argument that Wood's obsession with character... is actually a limitation".

Some reviewers questioned the balance between didacticism and narrative. While acknowledging its environmental urgency, The Spinoff noted uncertainty about whether the novel ultimately functioned as "a work of exultation or of mourning", reflecting broader debates about climate fiction's tonal challenges.

Public reception

The novel sparked significant public discussion about humanity's environmental responsibilities, with readers frequently describing it as life-changing in its ecological perspective. Its 2019 Pulitzer Prize win brought mainstream attention to ecological fiction, though some general readers found its complex structure challenging. The work became a touchstone in climate activism circles, with environmental organizations using excerpts for advocacy campaigns.

Impact

The Overstory has had an impact on both literature and environmental movements:

• Influence on ecofiction – the novel has been credited with revitalizing the ecofiction genre, inspiring a new wave of environmentally focused narratives.
• Impact on environmental activism – the book has raised awareness of ecological issues and has been referenced in discussions on conservation and deforestation.

Awards and honors

Awards

• 2018 Man Booker Prize shortlist
• 2018 Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine winner
• 2019 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award finalist
• 2019 2019 PEN/Faulkner Award finalist
• 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
• 2020 William Dean Howells Medal

Honors

• The novel is #24 on The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list.

Adaptations

In February 2021, it was reported that Netflix was developing a television adaptation of the novel with David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Hugh Jackman executive-producing.

Further reading

• Richard Powers and nature writing Open Book, Alex Clark interviews Richard Powers, 0:00-12 min, BBC Radio 4 podcast, August 28, 2018, accessed September 2, 2018.