The People in the Trees

2015 Longlist

It is 1950 when Norton Perina, a young doctor, embarks on an expedition to a remote Micronesian island in search of a rumored lost tribe. There he encounters a strange group of forest dwellers who appear to have attained a form of immortality that preserves the body but not the mind. Perina uncovers their secret and returns with it to America, where he soon finds great success. But his discovery has come at a terrible cost, not only for the islanders, but for Perina himself. Disquieting yet thrilling, The People in the Trees is an anthropological adventure story with a profound and tragic vision of what happens when cultures collide. It marks the debut of a remarkable new voice in American fiction.

(From Publisher)

About the Author

Hanya Yanagihara lives in New York. This is her first novel. The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Huffington Post and Cosmopolitan named The People in the Trees a ‘best book of the year’.

Librarian’s Comments

This astonishing debut novel purports to be the memoir of Dr. Norton Perina, a scientist who seeks the secret to the apparent immortality of a primitive Micronesian people, with devastating consequences for them, and ultimately, for himself. Although the narrator is despicable and his story unrelentingly pessimistic, this novel will haunt its readers long after they put it down.