Lisa Borm’s novella Religion of the Trees is not what I had envisioned when I picked it up. But these four short stories that are tied together in that all the characters live on Harding Street.

Millicent, now an old woman, has an affinity for the trees, they offer her rejuvenation, vitality and a deep connection to life. She repays them by taking care of them, helping the young trees grow and, on the day, that a new baby is born on Harding Street, in the dark of night she plants a young tree on the families’ property. This tree grows with the child, bonds and helps the child find their path toward adulthood.

Ms. Borm has written these four short stories in such a way as to take this reader into…