View source for The Hollow Tree

{{Short description|1997 children's historical novel by Janet Lunn}}
{{for|the tree in Vancouver, British Columbia|Hollow Tree}}
{{Infobox book |
| name          = The Hollow Tree
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = File:The Hollow Tree.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author        = [[Janet Lunn]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  = Seal Books
| country       = [[Canada]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| series        =
| genre         = [[Children's literature|Children's]] [[historical novel]]
| publisher     = [[Knopf Canada]]
| release_date  =
| media_type    = Print ([[Paperback]])
| pub_date      = 1997
| pages         =
| isbn          =
| oclc          =
| preceded_by   = [[Shadow in Hawthorn Bay]]
| followed_by   =
| Repeit Date   =
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2025}}

'''''The Hollow Tree''''' is a 1997 [[children's literature|children's]] [[historical novel]] by Canadian author [[Janet Lunn]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 15, 2000 |title=The Hollow Tree |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/products/1068439 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=[[Booklist]] |via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ellis |first=Sarah |date=2004-03-03 |title=The Hollow Tree |url=https://quillandquire.com/review/the-hollow-tree/ |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=[[Quill and Quire]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jenkinson |first=Dave |date=October 17, 1997 |title=The Hollow Tree |url=https://www.cmreviews.ca/cm/vol4/no4/hollowtree.html |journal=CM Magazine |volume=4 |issue=4 |access-date=2025-02-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reed |first=Brenda |date=1999 |title=Cultural Commentary: Book Review |url=https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/langandlit/index.php/langandlit/ |journal=Language and Literacy |publisher=[[University of Alberta]] |volume=11 |access-date=2025-02-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Shirley |date=March–April 1998 |title=The hollow tree |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/224897211 |journal=Emergency Librarian |location=Seattle |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=27 |id={{ProQuest|224897211}} }}</ref> The book is the third in a trilogy, the first two being ''[[The Root Cellar]]'' and ''Shadow in Hawthorn Bay''.  Having progressed backward from the [[American Civil War]] in ''The Root Cellar'', another few decades in ''Shadow in Hawthorn Bay'', ''The Hollow Tree'' takes place during the starting of the [[American Revolution]] in 1777. 

The main character, Phoebe Olcott, is mentioned briefly in ''Shadow in Hawthorn Bay'' as "Phoebe Morrisay," having married Jem Morrisay.  Phoebe's suitor, Ben Larkin, is implied to be an ancestor to Rose Larkin, the protagonist of ''The Root Cellar'', while the Morrissay family's descendants would include Will Morrisay, who also appears in ''The Root Cellar''.

==Plot overview==
Plump little Phoebe Olcott is a timid but helpful 15-year-old girl, admired by her father's students for her quiet temperament and stubbornness.  After her father, a schoolteacher, is killed in action while fighting as an [[Patriot (American Revolution)|American Patriot]] (commonly known as Rebels) in the quick revolution, she ends up living with her aunt's family, who happen to be [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]].

Phoebe continues to hide in the shadows of her cousins Gideon and Anne Robinson until Gideon becomes a British soldier. When he is suddenly found hanged, Phoebe discovers that Gideon was actually a spy and finds a list of names that was entrusted to Gideon and must be delivered to [[Fort Ticonderoga]].

She arrives at Fort Ticonderoga too late; the post has been abandoned. Instead, she finds a bear and a cat and meets Jem Morrissay, whose family happens to be one of the names on the list entrusted to Gideon. Phoebe and Jem form an uneasy relationship and she is reunited with her family and several other Loyalist families fleeing to [[Upper Canada]] to avoid [[persecution]] by the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]]s.

During the flight of the Loyalists, they capture Japhet Oram, a Loyalist soldier, and are uncertain if he is a deserter or a rebel spy.  The leader of the group insists that the soldier be taken to Canada and hanged.  When Phoebe's own convictions, background, and morals clash with the more radical of the Loyalists, she soon finds herself isolated from the rest of the group.  She secretly cuts Japhet loose and runs away, but is pursued by Jem.

Despite their growing attraction to one another, Phoebe refuses to return to the other Loyalists with Jem.  Forced to continue alone, Phoebe begins her dangerous journey to Canada in order to escape the revolution and fulfil Gideon's final mission.

==See also==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
* [[American Revolution]]

==References==
<references/>

{{Governor General's English children's literature|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollow Tree, The}}
[[Category:1998 Canadian novels]]
[[Category:1998 children's books]]
[[Category:Children's historical novels]]
[[Category:Novels set during the American Revolutionary War]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1770s]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1777]]
[[Category:Governor General's Award–winning children's books]]
[[Category:Knopf Canada books]]
[[Category:Children's books set in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Children's books set during the American Revolutionary War]]