The Wisdom of the Willow

In the backyard of Margaret and Joe Dowling’s new house in the north suburbs of Chicago, Joe plants a young willow tree as a symbol of home, belonging, and growth. As the years pass, the willow becomes a place for Margaret to share life’s wisdom with their four young daughters.

Years after leaving the nest, now in their early forties, the Dowling women find themselves faced with changes that will define their lives. Debra, the oldest, is shattered when she is asked for a divorce. Rose, who has long hidden her true self, finally begins to evaluate her pattern of being in uncommitted relationships. Linney fears losing Magnolia, the magical shop where she works. Charlotte, the youngest, is the only one who knows their mother is terminally ill, and has been charged by her with keeping it a secret. And Margaret, now faced with the greatest of challenges and struggling with whether she has done enough to help her daughters find their way in life, calls them all to the family home to reunite under the willow one last time.

A metaphorically rich and reflective tale of sisterhood and strength, The Wisdom of the Willow is a story of hope and healing, of the choices that shape our lives, and the challenges we all face as we seek to find our places in the world.

Author: Nancy Chadwick

Production Date: May 7, 2024

Categories: Fiction, Spring 2024

Description
About the Author

Description

Included in the “Most Anticipated Books of 2024” by the Chicago Review of Books

“The Wisdom of the Willow has two levels of appreciation. It reads like a kind of fable and at the same time leads the reader on an epic family journey. The prose is gentle and softly leads the reader through a story told by a writer who understands deeply the emotional link between man and nature. The natural world plays a role in this story as if it is a character itself. That’s part of the novel’s appeal. Through the combination of novel writing and nature writing, Chadwick creates a narrative with a delicate and charming touch.”
—The Writer Shed, David W. Berner

“The Wisdom of the Willow explores what keeps us together–individually, and as a family. I enjoyed being able to get to know the Dowling family, and I believe we could have been friends…. This is the first book I’ve read from Nancy Chadwick but it will not be the last book and I will be purchasing copies of this story for my girlfriends and I believe this would make a wonderful book club selection. I will be asking my library to add it to their must-read section for women and I hope you take the time to check out this novel as soon as possible.”
—The Mommies Review

“In this enchanting story, a quartet of sisters grows into four strong and deeply individual women, rooted in the steady love of their parents and a childhood yard anchored by a weeping willow tree. The quartet needs that strength, the tree’s wisdom, and their individual talents to reweave their sisterhood when their mother is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. The Wisdom of the Willow is satisfyingly redemptive tale, well told.”
—Susan Tweit, author of Bless the Birds, Living with Love in a Time of Dying

“Quiet, thoughtful writing pulls us into each character’s search for self and place with such elegance that we absorb the willow’s lessons deep into our own souls.
Chadwick weaves four sisters’ contemporary struggles to align their lives with their evolving senses of self and home into a heartfelt, engrossing story that reminds us of the flexibility, strength, and essential connections that surround us every day, in nature and in ourselves. A lovely, engrossing book about our individual and collective search for self and place, and the wisdom nature provides.”
—Sally Cole-Misch, author of The Best Part of Us

“Tolstoy wrote that ‘All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ The Dowling family is a happy family, but as adults, the four daughters are ‘unhappy’ in their own ways. Chafing against roles established early on, needing to find personal fulfillment, each of the sisters seeks her independent path, succeeding and failing and trying again. The understanding and grievances of sisterhood, its rivalries and love, bind the women together. Interweaving the stories of Debra, the eldest, wealthy and divorced; Rose, the rolling-stone actress-turned-writer; Linney, the gentle and artful shopkeeper; and Charlotte, the caregiver, Chadwick creates a richly layered, beautifully written, and deeply satisfying novel.”
—Lynn Sloan, author of Midstream and Principles of Navigation and This Far Isn’t Far Enough: Stories

About the Author

Nancy Chadwick grew up in a northern suburb of Chicago. She got her first job at Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago. After a decade there, and later, another decade in corporate banking, she quit and began to write full time, finding inspiration from her years living in Chicago and in San Francisco. Her essays have appeared in The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Turning Points – The Art of Friction, blogs by Off Campus Writers’ Workshop, the Chicago Writers Association Write City, and Brevity. She and her husband reside in a northern suburb of Chicago.