"... there is a philosophy in the fact of this constant motion that begins in the coach, goes onto a ship...The whole book is an example of life in motion, "the great stir of existence in the West...." Hervey Allen

The above mural depicts some of what is at the heart of Volume One; the coach, the mill, Don Luis, the Madonna, the two burning tapers, and the spider's web.

Volume One, The Roots of the Tree, is in our view, the segment of Anthony Adverse that most reads like straight romantic fiction, and if the story were to have ended with it, the depth contain therein, as revealed in the other two volumes, wouldn't have emerged. We can imagine that many reader's first impressions were locked into this atmosphere, even though completing the entire novel.

Many characters that are central to the entire saga are introduced here; Anthony, Don Luis, Mr. Bonnyfeather, Faith Paleologus, the Udneys, the Noltes, the Jorhams, and others.

Here is a very brief description of the narrative:

The story begins in 1775. Don Luis (the Marquis da Vincitata) and his girl-wife Maria (a merchant's daughter) are staying at an estate in Auvergne. He has chronic gout and a miserable disposition; mostly due his young wife's lack of affection, and her longing for a young officer who is doggedly pursuing her. His name is Denis, and he holds up in an Inn not far from the estate. In fact, he can view the estate from his room at the Inn. He manages to slip word to Maria, notifying her of his whereabouts.

Their opportunity for a meeting occurs when the Marquis absents himself from the Chataeu, spending time at a spa in order to cure his gout.

These lusciously romantic meetings take place at an "Enchanted Forest"; a sequestered coign. These passages are heavy with metaphors; the spider (Don Luis) spinning a web around the bee while it labors with a flower blossom. The writing is poetic and beautiful. After several such meetings, Maria finds herself pregnant, and the lovers make hurried and urgent plans of escape.

More trouble comes when Don Luis returns from the spa, completely cured, and wants, at last, to fulfill his husbandly duties with the shrinking Maria. This never happens because Don Luis correctly assesses her situation, and he forces her to leave with him at once.

The hapless Denis pursues the couple, and unwittingly happens to seek repast at an inn the two are staying at. While he's sipping some wine, he notices the image of Don Luis approaching him from behind, as reflected in his wine glass. The two engage in a duel, and Denis is killed.

Months later, high in the Alps, Maria dies giving birth to a son. Don Luis, in a measured act of kindness (for, as events turn out, he probably wished he would have killed the baby), deposits the baby boy at an Italian convent, leaving with him a small purse of money, and Maria's statue of the Madonna, a major focus throughout the boy's life.

This is it; the history that we, the reader, are privilaged to witness, but Anthony never learns of. The stage is now set.

The orphaned Anthony early childhood is described, much of the time, through the his own eyes. There is his fixation on certain objects at the Convent of Jesus the Child that stay with him throughout his life; the fountain with it's reflecting pond and bronze boy statues, the gnarled tree branch, and the Madonna, his only link to the past. At this convent, Anthony is tutored by Father Xavier, when he is not proving a handful for the flummoxed nuns. There is obviously much in the way of symbolism to be mined from these pages, as through much of book, for serious readers.

Father Xavier eventually leads Anthony to Casa da Bonnyfeather, a major Shipping/Trading establishment, owned and managed by a robust but elderly Scot, an expatriot, who happens to be Anthony's maternal grandfather. One might think by reading this that it all seems too convenient, but the precise and logical way it unfolds makes it seem quite realistic, if fortunate for Anthony.

The adolescent Anthony is mixed-in with people who will become major forces in shaping his life; Sandy McNab, the trusty foreman; Angela, an early girlfriend from a peasant family; the ever-watchful and seductive Faith Paleologus, Bonnyfeather's housekeeper; an emotional tutor named Toussaint; and of course, Mr. Bonnyfeather himself.

We watch Anthony grow into a young blade about town, often in the company of his great friend, Vincent Nolte. In time, they develop an important fiduciary relationship. But life won't remain like this for very long, because there are geo-political forces at work, namely "Buonaparte", that bring about dramatic changes for Anthony, setting his feet on an extraordinary path.