A Country Road, A Tree cover art

A Country Road, A Tree

Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Memorial Prize for Historical Fiction

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About this listen

BY THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LONGBOURN

Paris, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance...

Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art.

Praise for Jo Baker's LONGBOURN:
'Intoxicating' Guardian
'Engrossing' Sunday Times
'Audacious' New York Times

 20th Century Biographical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Romance War & Military Espionage Biography Military War

Critic reviews

Skilful . . . daring . . . an extraordinary story
[It is] the unexpected Beckett that is on show here. Baker pays tribute to a man who joined the French Resistance, narrowly escaped the Gestapo, fled south on foot and went into hiding, and was eventually awarded the Croix de Guerre
A fascinating fictional account of Samuel Beckett's wartime years
Beautifully written, empathetic and unflinching, it is very, very good
vivid and well-wrought
Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic
In this worthy successor to Longbourn, she [Baker] skillfully captures Beckett’s world, the rhythms of his bare-bones prose, and the edginess of his point of view.
Taking its title from Beckett's most famous play, Waiting for Godot, Baker's historical drama deftly explores the psyche of one of the greatest writers of the Twentieth Century.
Perfectly captures the deprivation, despair and constant creeping fear of an occupied people.
This exquisitely crafted novel re-creates the World War II peregrinations of Samuel Beckett and the volatile Frenchwoman who became his life's companion
All stars
Most relevant
I've listened to this twice now and I'll listen again, and again. It's a beautifully written, close, personal, and intimate account of the Nazi occupation of Paris at the start of the second world war. The prose is human - so elegant you don't notice it unless you're looking, and so plain you could easily think it must have been a doddle to write - unless you're really looking. A fictionalised account of Samuel Beckett's own experiences, the story is, at heart, one of ordinary people with decent lives slowly adjusting to starvation, degradation, and the disappearance of friends. If ever we needed a reminder of such creeping imposition of a malignant regime, the disbelief that facilitates it, the imperceptible loss of rights and freedoms, comforts and dignity now is the time. The narration is perfect.

An intimate story of the Nazi occupation of Paris

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Would you try another book written by Jo Baker or narrated by David Rintoul?

David Rintoul is excellent as always in his narration.

Would you recommend A Country Road, a Tree to your friends? Why or why not?

I only listened to 30 minutes of this book,I found it very hard to follow and understand,
I have little doubt it is well written all I can say is it started with two people talking and It took 30 minutes for me to realise it was a man talking to his mother,Instead of just making it clear from the start as to who was who.
No doubt it is a well written book ,but I just found it hard work and gave up after 30 minutes.
I have marked performance high as David Rintoul is my favourite narrator. I dont know if it is a good story as I gave up so early.But some people may like the style in which the book is written.

What three words best describe David Rintoul’s voice?

very,very good

Could you see A Country Road, a Tree being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

I cannot say.

A Hard Read

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A brilliant book, filled with rich descriptive text, fascinating story and an insight into history told through a remarkable man who I had virtually no prior knowledge of. I highly recommend this book. The writer draws the reader into the story with great skill and from early on in the book I was enthralled.

Fantastic

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Jo Baker has a great talent for putting history on the page in unusual contexts. Her first novel, Longbourn, told the story of Pride And Prejudice from the viewpoint of the servants. This new novel tells the story of writer Samuel Beckett's wartime experiences in WWII France, in a fiction that is clever and deftly written. No prior knowledge of Beckett's work is needed to enjoy it.

The story begins in Paris, just before everything changes when the city falls to the Nazis. During the course of the plot we learn of the author's friendship with James Joyce, his desperation to avoid returning to his native Ireland, his flight from Paris with his lover Suzanne, his times with the French Resistance and his failure to progress the writing career he so badly wanted. After the war he works for an organisation which sets up a hospital in France and he rekindles his relationship with Suzanne. But, love does not prosper and he resumes his writing career.

This is a masterful piece of storytelling. The plot is straightforward, told in a linear style over several different time periods. The characters are well drawn and the story is interesting; there are no literary fireworks and the pace is a little slow at times, but overall it is a good read and very well written.

The narrator did a good job but I would have preferred more light and shade in his tone.

Fact Meets Fiction In World War II France

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extremely wordy, story jumps around all the time. Difficult to get a grip of. utterly boring. Only persevered as it was for a book club. Not worth the money.

Boring Book

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