The Witch Elm: A Novel
A New York Times bestseller and a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, The Boston Globe, LitHub, Vulture, Slate, Elle, Vox, and Electric Literature
“Tana French’s best and most intricately nuanced novel yet.” —The New York Times
An “extraordinary” (Stephen King) and “mesmerizing” (LA Times) standalone novel from the master of crime and suspense and author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter.
From the writer who “inspires cultic devotion in readers” (The New Yorker) and has been called “incandescent” by Stephen King, “absolutely mesmerizing” by Gillian Flynn, and “unputdownable” (People) comes a gripping new novel that turns a crime story inside out.
Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are.
“Tana French’s best and most intricately nuanced novel yet.” —The New York Times
An “extraordinary” (Stephen King) and “mesmerizing” (LA Times) standalone novel from the master of crime and suspense and author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter.
From the writer who “inspires cultic devotion in readers” (The New Yorker) and has been called “incandescent” by Stephen King, “absolutely mesmerizing” by Gillian Flynn, and “unputdownable” (People) comes a gripping new novel that turns a crime story inside out.
Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are.
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Community Reviews
I really dislike the protagonist, Toby, which made it difficult to return to this book after putting it down sometimes. However, I think we are not supposed to like him, which is a risky move on French's part. What do you do with a character the reader doesn't root for? For the entire read, I didn't love him or even love to hate him. I was mostly just annoyed with him. So, Tana, I found myself asking at several points, how are you going to make me like this story? How can a character narrating his own story in the past tense, through such an annoyingly privileged filter, change enough to make reading his story worthwhile? Genuine questions, because I am a Tana French fan and had faith that she could do it! And, without giving too much away, I am satisfied with how she crafted it. She tied up loose ends nicely (and there are always several subplots to complicate this task), and she also managed to help me understand and validate my own feelings about her shitty protagonist/effective narrator. Props to French for doing this with 1st person narration, too. Shitty protagonist, but effective narrator. He's just oblivious enough to everyone else's troubles to give the reader a fairly reliable, never quite sympathetic impression of what kind of person he is. Well done, Tana. Waiting with bated breath for your next one!
This was a griping view of humanity. I am reminded about how much I appreciate the way French writes her characters. She endows each one, regardless of their prominence in the story, with a palpable humanity. I long for a different ending, but I applaud the understanding this brought.
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