With novels such as The Poet of Tolstoy Park to his credit, Sonny Brewer has established himself as one of the South's most critically acclaimed authors. The Widow and the Tree features a 500-year-old Ghosthead Oak, whose stately presence has borne witness to the rise and fall of generations, to the hopes and dreams of untold lives, and to the births and deaths of innumerable residents along coastal Alabama. So why would a widow enter a biker bar and hire a man to chainsaw the cherished landmark?