THE TREE OF SORROW

Hubert Selby is already known to the Greek public in many ways. His is the Last Exit for Brooklyn, which has marked a particularly successful course in the Greek market, through its multiple editions. After all, the same book received a particularly successful film adaptation, without being the only one by the author to be transferred to the big screen, as it was recently made into a feature film and Requiem for a Dream, another classic book of his, which will be released in Greece in next fall, again from the VOLT series. The Tree of Sorrow is one of Selby's last works, and as he himself states it is his own attempt to talk about love. Bobby, a black teenager from the Bronx, and Maria, his Hispanic girlfriend, are victims of a racist attack, with tragic results: the beautiful Maria is horribly scarred on the face, and Bobby is badly injured. The young lady ends up in the hospital, where, under the burden of psychological trauma, she commits suicide, while Bobby is treated by Moise, a survivor of the German concentration camps of the Second World War. A close bond of friendship develops between the young boy and his overage benefactor, but also a deep internal battle, between Bobby's thirst for revenge, and Moise's lessons about the power of love and forgiveness.