One mistake can ruin a life. One mistake can transform it. A government forestry camp set deep in the mountainous forests of the Pacific Northwest might not seem the likely place to find redemption, but in 1935, Park Hardesty hopes for just that. Blaming himself for the fiery accident that caused his brother's disfigurement and the death of the bootlegging woman he loved, planting trees, building bridges and mentoring tough, homesick New Jersey boys brings him both penitence and the renewal of his own self-worth. When he wins the love of Kate Alford, a local naturalist who envisions joining the Forest Service, which allows only men, he also captures the ire of a camp officer who refuses to let her go. Just when he is ready to seek his brother's forgiveness, he is falsely accused of rape. Every aspect of his life he has tried to rebuild is put in jeopardy. In the end, the only way he can defend himself is to tell the truth about his brother, but he risks being kicked out of the camp. Worse, he could lose Kate's love forever ... in this boisterous blend of mystery, romance and American economic history... its disparatethreads of mysterious past and romantic present are tied up with anemotionally satisfying resolution. ~ PW May 2014 (ABNA quarter finalist) ...the characters are complicated andconvincing, and the overall narrative is solid, providing a nicebalance of macho rough-and-tumble, romance, and period detail. I'malways glad to see more Northwest-based fiction, and "TreeSoldier" is well worth reading. ~Barbara Lloyd McMicheal for the Bellingham Herald, December 26,2011 Oakley constructs this rugged romance with tremendous care, fully developing its characters, particularly the honorable Hardesty, and building moments of tension in an engaging and entertaining novel. ~ PW Select January 2012 In this action-packed, emotionally charged historical novel titled Tree Soldier, J.L. Oakley takes us back to the era of the Great Depression. Tree Soldier will draw you in and keep you turning the pages. Tree Soldier won Chanticleer Book Reviews Blue Ribbon Award of Grand Prize in our Published Novels Contest 2012. ~ Chanticleer Book Reviews A man running from his past, a woman too independent for her era, amanblinded by jealousy, and a rowdy cast of streetwiseDepression-eraCivilian Conservation Corps teenage boys coalesce inthis boisterousblend of mystery, romance and - though not quiterealized enough -American economic history... its disparatethreads of mysterious past and romantic present are tied up with anemotionally satisfying resolution.~ PW May 2014 My 96 year-old Mom is a native of Idaho and during the summers she often went up to her Uncle Lawrence's ranch in Lowman just north of Boise. One summer around 1933 a Civilian Conservation Corps camp appeared about a mile away. Some 200 young men were there working on projects. Some were from New Jersey. Years later when I had to write a term paper for a history class, her stories came back.  I began to explore CCC projects around my county in Western Washington. A story of a young man from back East who is running away from a past mistake  began to form. The CCC is responsible for some of the most beautiful structures, campgrounds and parks on both side of the  North Cascade Mountains and the whole Pacific Northwest for that matter. The young men, working in squads of 6-9 men, also planted trees, built roads and bridges, backpacked fish into remote lakes, and did reclamation work, including dams. In Whatcom County where I live, they built the Glacier ranger station, Silver Fir and Douglas Fir Campgrounds and the Warming Hut up at Mount Baker. The program was responsible for saving the lives of countless families for while the boys worked, $25.00 out of the $30.00 they earned when to their families. That was a lot of money back then. The CCC trained the young men in forestry and wood craft, provided after hours schooling, and taught them to work as teams. In the end they tackled some of the worst  environmental problems caused by soil erosion and over-logging. Many have said the environmental movement started with the CCCs. I have had the great privilege of meeting and talking the real tree soldiers. Sadly, they are all passing away, but their stories of getting on during very hard times have touched me. At my first book talk for Tree Soldier at the Whatcom Museum, a gentleman came up to me and told me about how people were literally starving in a rich farming area in my community. His mother put together food for some of these families. He remembers hearing his parents talk about so and so going into the CCCs and how that money coming home saved the family.  I have written about Norway in WW II, 1860s Pacific NW, and the prequel to Tree Soldier set in the same area in 1906 around the birth of the Forest Service, but this stories of these CC boys will always stay with me. J.L. Oakley is an award winning writer of memoir essays and historical arti