A Bookchat About “Where Trees Touch the Sky” with Karen Barnett

About the author

KAREN BARNETT is the award-winning author of eight novels, including When Stone Wings Fly and Ever Faithful. Before becoming a novelist, she worked as a ranger naturalist and outdoor educator at Mount Rainier National Park and Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park.

When not writing, Karen enjoys photography, hiking, public speaking, and decorating crazy birthday cakes. She lives in Oregon with her family. Karen has joined us before to discuss her novel, When Stone Wings Fly, and today we will be looking at another dual-timeline National Parks novel, Where the Trees Touch the Sky. But let’s start with something fun.

You have to tell us about one of these crazy birthday cakes! What design did you enjoy doing recently?
This is your fifth historical novel surrounding a national park, and your passion for the parks is clear in your stories. As a former parks ranger, what is one thing you wish the public understood better about visiting the parks?
Something that’s been on my mind lately is how God speaks to His children in different ways a lot of the time. Could you share a time, writing-related or otherwise, that God gave you very clear direction about something?
Is there anything especially interesting that you haven’t covered in other interviews that you could share with us or perhaps there is something God has laid on your heart that you would like to share with your readers?

About the book Where the Trees Touch the Sky

Some secrets have shadows as long as the redwoods are tall.

In the early 1920s, the accelerating destruction of the California redwoods is more than nature-loving Marion Baker can bear. Throwing herself headlong into the work of the Save the Redwoods League, she is shocked to learn that Frank Duncan, a man she’s grown to love, is the son of one of the area’s worst timber barons. Though devastated by the betrayal, she realizes this could also be an opportunity—if only she can convince him to help her preserve her favorite grove from his father’s greedy grasp. Is her love strong enough to persuade him to save these precious trees? Or will Marion choose to sacrifice her beliefs to keep Frank by her side?

Nearly fifty years later, in 1972, polio survivor June Turner is deeply proud of the legacy her great aunt Marion has left as a redwood warrior. And despite her disability, June is determined to prove herself worthy as a ranger at the recently established Redwood National Park, even if it means taking to the trails with her crutch in hand. What better way to carry on the family tradition of preserving God’s magnificent creation?

When aspiring film student Adam Garner approaches June to help make a documentary about Marion’s life, she swiftly grabs the opportunity to spread her aunt’s worthy reputation. That is, until they unearth a secret that might shatter the family legacy. In the scramble for answers, June may lose not only her family pride but also her own dreams.

There is something so magical about the redwoods! But there is almost always an adventure behind the peaceful parks we love so well today. Throw in a love interest tied up with the enemy and a family secret, and you are going to be keeping readers up way too late.

The Historical Novel Society defines historical fiction as works “written at least fifty years after the events described,” so by that definition, this novel has two historical timelines. Why 1972 for the second timeline and not modern day?
June is a polio survivor, which is something we don’t see too often in the States these days, and in 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act was still almost twenty years away. What is life like for June as a person with a disability in the 1970s?
What was the Save the Redwoods League, and how did your character Marion become a part of it? (Was Marion inspired by a real-life character?)
What’s next for your writing?

Connect with Karen: KarenBarnettBooks.com, Facebook (KarenBarnettAuthor), Twitter (KarenMBarnett), Instagram (@KarenBarenttAuthor and @RangerBearAdventures), Goodreads, and BookBub