The Overstory

A woman in a park leans against a pine tree. She feels the expanse of the natural world around her, as “something in the air’s scent commands the woman” (7) to think about willow. Humans do not comprehend the extent and the depth of the life around them. The woman is told to listen to the world around her as there is something that she needs to hear. 

In the 1800s, people in Prospect Hill, Brooklyn, throw stones at chestnut trees and gather the nuts that fall. A Norwegian named Jørgen Hoel eats the gathered chestnuts with his friends. That night, Jørgen proposes to Vi Powys, and they become Americans together, moving to Iowa to be farmers. Vi becomes pregnant, and Jørgen plants six of the chestnuts that he gathered on the day he proposed. He nurtures the seedlings.

Their first child dies in infancy. Soon, however, they have many children and “the hint of a chestnut grove” (12), which provides traditional medicines for the family. The farm and the family expand; eventually, there is one tree left, the others killed by lighting and drought. Jørgen’s sons grow up and find work, his daughters go off to marry neighbors. The eldest son, John, helps on the farm, bringing in a steam tractor and other machines.