Product Description

This dark fable tells the story of four English children who run away to the French countryside to establish their own utopian community. All seems well in The Republic of Trees as the children hunt, fall in love and educate themselves in the principles of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract. But the sudden arrival of Joy and the new disciplines she brings, and their increasingly intense, obsessive and erotic relationships alter the mood of the camp irrevocably. As the shadows of a dystopian nightmare start to blend with reality in the forest, and the coded revolutionary language of the group takes on a clipped, macabre tone, The Republic of Trees powers towards a shocking, violent and terrifying conclusion. The Republic of Trees is a compelling, disturbing and imaginatively charged tale of adolescence, the desire to escape, and sexual fear and awakening.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #576787 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Penelope Lively, Independent
'A bold debut . . . one wants to see what Taylor does next.'

Daily Mail
'Sam Taylor clearly relishes storytelling and his novel has the kind of swift pace that's rare in literary fiction.'

Observer
'[An] enchanting and deeply disturbing first novel . . . sensitive, at times beautiful.'

Customer Reviews

Interesting...
This is the tale of 4 adolescent children who, living in France, decide to run away into the forest and live their lives according to The Social Contract by philospher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Initially, things are fine and our protagonist Michael falls for the sexually provocative Isobel. But having an 'adult' relationship (the first for youngest Michael) in the company of what are basically children, with competing jealousies, and grabbing at power in the creation of their new world order. Alcohol begins to play accomplice to the children's evolving personalities and it is not long before utopia turns nasty. Predictably, an horrific ending ensues.

Talyor is a very good, natural writer and while you are initially in tune with Michael, the change that takes place in him and all the children turns the reader very cold against all. Some lovely lines, for example my favourite "At school...you learn to see the bars of your cage" really summed up how I felt about primary school.

Very good novel, obviously going to be compared to Lord of the Flies, but still worth a read in it's own right.

Unique adventure
This is a dark tale about 4 teens, from 2 families, who live in France. They run away together to a forest in order to set up their own utopian community, which they name The Republic of Trees. Their bible is The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Their life becomes filled with days hunting for food; tree climbing, swimming, map making, gardening and creating rules for their community to live by. All seemed to be going well, until a 5th person turns up, another girl, and then things start to turn awry, with sexual tensions, sibling jealousy and finally a power struggle begins. Events take a turn for the worse when they have to start making raids on other dwellings to stock up on essentials that are running low, and gradually they seem to lose their sanity and their ways of thinking become warped. From then on, with the introduction of a guillotine that the children build, their story loses its dreamlike quality of a heavenly existence and instead takes on a nightmare feel. The ending is an extremely shocking and gruesome one, which will leave you gasping with horror.

In all, I found this a disturbing but compelling read and was gripped by every page. It has comparisons with Animal Farm, 1984, Lord of the Flies and even Peter Pan, yet is unique in it own way.

Viva la republica!
Set in the wilds of southern France, Sam Taylor's first novel is a great utopia-crushing read, in the tradition of Lord of the Flies and The Beach. It demands to be read in one sitting, as the second half belts towards it's terrible conclusion.
It begins innocently enough, but little by little things start to go tragically wrong, especially with the arrival of the sinister Joy who ushers a group of four school children, who have escaped to a forest to begin their own republic based on the guidelines laid down in The Social Contract, into a nightmare world of rules and dreams and blackouts.
All of this is handled remarkable well for a first time novelist; Sam Taylor seems set for an interesting career. I'd certainly recommend this book to anyone looking for an exciting, fresh read.