“The Woman in the Trees” by Theoni Bell.
Tan Books, Gastonia, North Carolina, 2020, 209 pages, Grades 8 and higher.
The Church exercises great caution in declaring a Marian apparition authentic. And this is as it should be because the faithful are harmed by false spiritual ideas.
In October 1859, a young Belgium immigrant, Adele Brise, claimed that the Blessed Virgin appeared to her in the forest near the town of Champion, Wisc. Because of the location of the apparition, Our Lady became known as The Woman in the Trees. Adele Brise said the Blessed Virgin told her to gather frontier children and begin teaching them the basic aspects of the Catholic faith.
The apparition was formally approved Dec. 8, 2010, by Bishop David L. Ricken, becoming the first Marian apparition approved by the Catholic Church in the United States. Bishop Ricken also approved the chapel as a diocesan shrine. It was named the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. In 2016, the shrine received designation as a National Shrine from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Theoni Bell writes an interesting account of The Woman in the Trees and the people fleeing to the religious center during the massive Peshtigo forest fire. By combining these two events, Theoni Bell gives us both a religious and secular story.
Slainie Allard is a young married woman living in the Wisconsin wilderness with her virtuous husband, Joseph. They have known Sister Adele Brise for a number of years and have visited the school erected to support the mission given to Sister Brise by the Lady in the Trees. But there is something menacing in the air on the night of Oct. 8, 1871. The land near Green Bay, Wisc. is dry as tinder. This parched land extends for miles and miles throughout eastern Wisconsin.
Tragically, a fire erupts that causes the forest to explode in flames. It becomes a raging inferno and begins destroying everything in its path. Slainie and Joseph realize there is nothing they can do to save their farm. Quickly gathering a few goods and clothes, they leave, believing that the Lady in the Trees will protect them if they get to Sister Adele Brise’s five-acre school and prayer center.
Allard’s mother refuses to come and blames God for the disaster and the earlier death of a beloved daughter. But the night of Oct. 8, 1871 is not a time to dwell on past hurts. The fire expands and begin destroying thousands upon thousands of acres of land. Slainie can’t believe her mother won’t leave the family farm and avoid certain death. She runs back through the smoke and flames and begins dragging her mother through the raging forest fire.
Several thousand people have already been burned to death. Slainie believes that if she and her mother can get to Sister Brise’s prayer center, they will be spared from death. However, time is running out. As they stagger through the flames and smoke, Slainie wonders if they will make it. What happens?
Do Slainie and her mother get to the prayer center and avoid certain death? What is not burned by the gigantic fire? What happens to the prayer center? How does the Blessed Mother look after Her children? To find out, go to the library and check out, “The Woman in the Trees” by Theoni Bell.
The prayer center in the story “The Woman in the Trees” is frequently visited today by religious pilgrims. The Peshtigo Fire destroyed more than a million acres of land and wreaked devastation on Wisconsin. Bell attains a proper balance in describing the religious yearnings of Slainie, the effects of the massive Peshtigo Fire, and the development of the Sister Adele Brise religious center.
The conclusion is quite dramatic as Slainie saves her mother and avoids the burning disaster surrounding her. I encourage you to purchase this book or check out the electronic copy of the title in the library. It is a fine story.
