Set in the waning years of the 19th century, The Hollow Tree is a historical fiction novel that explores the rise and quiet unraveling of a remote Pennsylvania timber town built on ambition, secrecy, and sacrifice. On the banks of Bailey Run, in the heart of Potter County, the Goodyear Company carves out a company town to harvest the last stands of virgin hemlock. But as the trees fall, something ancient stirs in the forest-something not quite forgotten, and not quite gone. Through the eyes of characters both burdened and driven-William Moran, the conflicted foreman; Clara Moran, his inquisitive and quietly defiant daughter; Jonas Webber, a reclusive woodsman with a ledger of secrets; and Terrence Fee, the manipulative company man-The Hollow Tree weaves a narrative of personal reckoning and supernatural tension. When the town's expansion uncovers a strange clearing and an impossible hollow tree, the boundary between the natural world and something older begins to fray. Told in three parts over the span of a decade, the novel layers mystery with frontier hardship, small-town politics, and folklore rooted in the dark heart of the woods. Tragedy strikes, alliances fracture, and the shadow of an unnamed presence lingers over every choice. In the ruins of what the town believed it controlled lies the truth about what they disturbed-and what watched them all along.

Inspired by actual events and historical records from Potter County, The Hollow Tree blends real newspaper clippings and local lore with richly imagined characters and slow-burning suspense. While some names and incidents are drawn from history, the story remains a work of fiction, and any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The Hollow Tree is a haunting exploration of guilt, survival, and the cost of forgetting what once kept the woods quiet.