The Wishing Trees――爱不是羁绊前行的锁链 美国作家约翰?肖尔斯(John Shors)曾在日本教授多年的英语课程，游历过亚洲多个国家和地区，还攀上了喜马拉雅山。他把脚印留在了亚洲、南太平洋、欧洲以及北美，可谓是一位不折不扣的旅行家。他将自己的游历融入作品，致力于以文字给予人们治愈心灵的力量，他的《许愿树》(The Wishing Trees)便被誉为“心灵治愈系小说”。约翰还著有另外三部小说，分别为《大理石天空下》(Beneath a Marble Sky)、《燃烧的海边》(Beside a Burning Sea)、《龙屋》(Dragon House)，它们已被翻译成25种语言出版。 《许愿树》中，妻子凯特病逝后，伊恩身陷巨大的悲痛无法自拔。凯特的离开仿佛带走了他生命中所有亮丽的颜色和悦耳的声音，除了十岁的女儿玛蒂。然而玛蒂有时对伊恩而言只不过是更大的折磨，因为她眉眼之间的独特韵致、她的言谈举止思维方式，甚至她微笑的样子都像极了凯特。在凯特离开后漫长的十个月里，伊恩面对玛蒂，不由更加思念凯特，始终无法走出失去爱妻的悲痛。直到有一天，伊恩打开凯特留下的礼物盒，发现凯特留给他的一封信。信中，凯特恳求伊恩带着他们的女儿去开始一场跨国之旅，将那些他们年轻时候游历过的地方重新走一遍。她还给伊恩和玛蒂分别留下了几个编好号的胶卷筒，让他们到了相应的目的地再打开。
Ian reached into his pocket and removed two black film canisters1). Both had "Japan" written on them in gold-colored permanent marker2). One carried his name, the other Mattie's. "Here you go, luv3)," Ian said, handing Mattie her canister. "Maybe you should read your first." "No worries, Roo4). You go ahead. I'll wait." Mattie nodded. Her fingers, darkened from the colored pencils, pulled the gray top off her canister. Inside was a narrow but long piece of paper that had been rolled up like a little scroll. Mattie studied the paper, her heart thumping5) faster. She didn't know what she hoped her mother would say, or even if it were possible for her mother to say anything that would make her feel better. Her colored fingers trembling, she unrolled the paper and squinted6) at the small, elegant words.
