The God of the Woods: A Novel (Unabridged)
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4.1 • 914 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"Riveting from page one to the last breathless word."—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You
“Brilliant, riveting .. an epic mystery, a family saga and a survival guide...I loved this book.” —Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace
When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains a map from the book.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A teen girl’s disappearance reveals the toxicity within her family, her community, and society as a whole in this multilayered mystery from the brilliant Liz Moore, whose Long Bright River stunned us in 2020. It’s 1975 when Barbara Van Laar goes missing from her bunk at an Adirondack summer camp, and two things make the case unusual. First, her wealthy parents own the camp and much of the surrounding land. And second, her own brother went missing from those very same woods in 1961. Moore populates this insular world with a fascinating array of complex characters. Each one reveals yet another dimension to Barbara’s story, from her mother, Alice, who’s been distant and critical since losing her son, to the investigator, Judyta, whose success in a male-dominated field means facing abhorrent misogyny every single day. And as the mystery unfolds, Moore pulls you deeper and deeper into this immersive time and place. Narrator Saskia Maarleveld finds the perfect balance between the ghostly creepiness of the haunted-woods setting and the all-too-real emotions of her characters. Come for this devilishly clever mystery, stay for its smart dissection of class, gender, and sexuality.
Customer Reviews
So Many Characters
This was a really intriguing story although the amount of characters and their significance made it a little confusing and hard to follow at times. Loved the perspective from multiple characters though!
Just ok
It wasn’t a very surprising or interesting twist. I also had trouble keeping track of or feeling connected to the characters
Interesting Read
I really enjoyed this. Loved the jumping around in time and back stories.