When Rebecca Monroe - married to Alistair, a scientist who doesn't believe in fate, but rather genetic disposition - discovers that she is pregnant, she begins to question what makes us who we are and whether her own precarious family history will play a role in her future. For Rebecca, the wry and observant narrator of The Family Tree , simple things said over breakfast take on greater a home-improvement project foreshadows darker things to come; the color of one's eyes, the slope of a forehead are all missing pieces to the truth behind the family tree. At once nostalgic and refreshingly original, The Family Tree is a sophisticated story of one woman and the generations of women who came before her and whose legacy shaped her life and its emotional landscape.