In the spring of 1942 Czech Resistance fighters assassinate the head of Nazi-Occupied Czechoslovakia. On the flimsiest of evidence, the Nazi high command sends troops to demolish the small Czech town of Lidice, execute the town's men, and abduct and racially profile its women and children.
Though set in the 1940s in Eastern Europe, The Pear Tree could not be more timely. With the rise of nationalism, racism, and xenophobia in countries across the globe, minority groups are being labeled as different, suspicious, or inferior because of their nationality, ethnicity, religion, or race. The Pear Tree takes readers inside the minds of people who are categorized as outsiders and how that changes the way they view themselves. It explores the insidiousness of bigotry that turns son against mother, neighbor against neighbor, and friend away from friend.