Books › The God of the Woods
The God of the Woods
576 pages
A thrilling, multi-threaded plunge into the dark secrets and class divides of a powerful family after a sudden disappearance.
What it feels like
This ambitious, multi-threaded novel delivers a propulsive and atmospheric reading experience, plunging you into the tense aftermath of a sudden disappearance. The mood is steeped in secrecy and panic, capturing the shadowy divide between a powerful, wealthy dynasty and the blue-collar community that works in its orbit. As the narrative unfolds, the prose weaves a rich, gripping tapestry of long-buried family secrets and the desperate search for answers. The emotional arc moves from immediate shock into a thrilling, layered exploration of history repeating itself. It is a perfect match for readers who devour suspenseful, wide-reaching dramas that balance the urgent pacing of a mystery with deep, thematic explorations of class, legacy, and the elusive nature of second chances.
- Mood
- tense
- secretive
- atmospheric
- shadowy
- Tone
- suspenseful
- dramatic
- gripping
- ambitious
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- class divide · family secrets · missing children · second chances
- The writing
- Rich, multi-threaded, and ambitious, weaving together different perspectives to build a gripping narrative.
- The arc
- Moves from the initial shock and panic of a sudden disappearance into a deep, thrilling unraveling of long-held family and community secrets.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love atmospheric, multi-generational mysteries that explore class dynamics and deep-seated family secrets.
Content notes
- missing children
- child disappearance
- class tension
About the book
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.
Description from Open Library.
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