The Memory Tree - Facts

 

One element in the book which is present in the narration is a beech tree. Beech is a deciduous tree native to subtropical and temperate Eurasia and North America. 

Ann's father, Sylvester, was from Madeira. Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean about 805 km  southwest of mainland Portugal. 

Beechgrave was near Yatton, Somerset. Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset. It is located 11 miles south-west of Bristol.

Ann, who is a textile artist, admires the work of William Morris. William Morris was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. 

The characters mention Gertrude Jekyll, a Victorian gardener who used to be a painter. When she went blind, she turned to gardening. Gertrude Jekyll (29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote over 1000 articles  for magazines such as Country Life and William Robinson's The Garden.

Hester wants to be like Ernest Wilson, a botanist. Ernest Henry "Chinese" Wilson (15 February 1876 – 15 October 1930), better known as E. H. Wilson, was a British plant collector and explorer who introduced a large range of about 2,000 Asian plant species to the West; some sixty bear his name.

Hester attended a meetin of the WSPU (Women's Social Political Union). The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a leading militant women-only political organization founded in Manchester, England, on October 10, 1903, by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters. It campaigned aggressively for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom using the motto "Deeds not Words".

Britain declared warn on Germany in 1914. August 4, 1914, triggered by the German invasion of neutral Belgium, the expiration of a midnight ultimatum, and long-standing treaty commitments.

Scarborough, Whiby and Hartlepool were bombarded . 

The World War I bombardment of Scarborough was a surprise German naval attack on December 16, 1914.  It resulted in 18 local deaths, extensive civilian property damage, and massive public outrage across Britain.

The Whitby bombardment was a German naval surprise attack on December 16, 1914, targeting the English coastal town, alongside Scarborough and Hartlepool. Led by the German Imperial Navy, the raid hit the historic Whitby Abbey and killed civilians, marking the first attack on British soil in World War I.

The bombardment of Hartlepool was a surprise 40-minute World War I attack by the German Navy on December 16, 1914. The strike killed 130 people, injured hundreds, and marked the first direct attack on the British home front during the war.

Arthur, Hester's eldest brother, was killed at Ypres. The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from April 22 to May 25, 1915, in Belgium, marked by the first large-scale use of chlorine gas and a fierce defense by Allied forces including Canadian troops.

Walter, Hester's fiancé, was killed in St Eloi. The Actions of St Eloi Craters from 27 March to 16 April 1916, were local operations in the Ypres Salient of Flanders, during the First World War by the German 4th Army and the British Second Army. Sint-Elooi is a village about 5 kmsouth of Ypres in Belgium. 

William was wounded at the Battle of Somme. Battle of the Somme was a massive World War I offensive fought by British and French forces against Germany. It took place from July 1 to November 18, 1916, along the Somme River in France, and resulted in over one million casualties.

Violet and Hester's mother died of the Spanish flu. an exceptionally deadly global H1N1 influenza pandemic that occurred from 1918 to 1920, infecting 500 million people and causing an estimated 17 to 50 million deaths.

In this book I have learnt some interesting vocabulary:

- A three-pipe problem: A three-pipe problem is a famous phrase from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short story "The Red-Headed League", denoting a very difficult puzzle, requiring long meditation. 

- Case the joint: To "case the joint" means to inspect a building or area, plan a crime, and look for security.