The People in the Trees

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses child sexual abuse and colonialism.

Hanya Yanagihara is a New York Times best-selling author and the current editor of T Magazine, the New York Times fashion magazine. Although her first novel, The People in the Trees, was not an immediate commercial success when it was first published in 2013, Yanagihara’s second novel, A Little Life, was a massive hit, enjoying rave reviews and even being shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Her career has largely been concentrated in the editing and publishing world, and she writes fiction in her spare time. Her third novel, To Paradise, was published in 2023 and rose to number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

Each of Yanagihara’s novels contains similar dark themes that both captivate and alienate audiences. Sexual violence, especially toward children, plays an instrumental part in the plots of both The People in the Trees and A Little Life. Other themes that define her works are intense loneliness, the bonds of friendship and family, and the power of love. In all three of Yanagihara’s novels, bonds between characters can be at times uplifting but often end in sad dissolution, revealing the harsh and unexpected paths that life can take.