Helpful Score: 3
I've read all of French's books and think this is the best so far. A master storyteller w/beautiful prose. A dark story that is a slow burn. Her plot is intricate with surprising twists and turns, especially at the end. Toby always felt lucky and blessed until a burglar hit him on the head and caused slight brain damage. After this event, things spiral out of control and change his life forever. A spellbinding and gripping read not to be missed.
Helpful Score: 1
I like Tana French's writing, I think she's very good. I was enjoying this book up until about 3/4 of the way, then it felt like she herself got tired of writing it and just made up a couple things at the end to get it done. Not sure why I felt that way. Her prose, scenery descriptions, the conversations, the characters all good. Book could have been half the size, paced a bit faster, and possibly I'd have felt more of a razors edge than something glomped on at the end.
Helpful Score: 1
Sorry to say that by page 115, I just had to give up. While I somewhat enjoyed French's writing style, the story hadn't grabbed me enough to keep plodding along. Toby was not that interesting and it didn't appear he ever would be by page 509. I felt like I was stuck in quicksand, just TRYING to get out to a better place.
So boring and hard to get through the first 100 pages, I sure didn't want to waste my time with another 100 pages of nothing but boring descriptions and conversations
Terrible writing!
Terrible writing!
I have a couple of other novels by French in the Dublin Murder series that I haven't read yet but hope to get to soon. This novel, The Witch Elm, is a stand alone story that I decided to read before I get into the Dublin Murder books. Anyway, I thought this was a very good thriller that kept me interested throughout. The novel was actually based on a true case that happened in 1943. A discovery was made of the skeletonised remains of a woman by four children inside a wych elm in Hagley Wood, Hagley (located in the estate of Hagley Hall), in Worcestershire, England. The victimâwhose murder is approximated to have occurred in 1941âremains unidentified.
The protagonist of French's novel is Toby Hennessy, an outwardly appearing charming young man who works as a publicist for an art dealer. Early in the novel, he is attacked and beaten in his apartment and suffers severe bodily harm. As he is recovering, he decides to go to the family estate called the "Ivy House" to take care of his Uncle Hugo who is dying from a brain tumor. This is where he and his two cousins, Leon and Susanna, spent a lot of time during their youths especially in the summer. It is still the meeting place for the family and Hugo's three brothers and family have Sunday dinners there. At one of these outings, a skull is discovered in the old wych elm in the garden. The police are brought in and it turns out the body of an old school mate of the cousins is contained in the tree. So how did he get there, was it a murder, and if so who could have killed him? So is Toby a suspect in this...apparently the police think so.
I enjoyed this novel for the most part. The plot had a lot of twists and turns and kept me guessing but in the end I was not too happy about the fate of Toby. I will be looking forward to reading more of French. I know her Dublin Murders is now a series on STARZ so I will probably be watching that as well.
The protagonist of French's novel is Toby Hennessy, an outwardly appearing charming young man who works as a publicist for an art dealer. Early in the novel, he is attacked and beaten in his apartment and suffers severe bodily harm. As he is recovering, he decides to go to the family estate called the "Ivy House" to take care of his Uncle Hugo who is dying from a brain tumor. This is where he and his two cousins, Leon and Susanna, spent a lot of time during their youths especially in the summer. It is still the meeting place for the family and Hugo's three brothers and family have Sunday dinners there. At one of these outings, a skull is discovered in the old wych elm in the garden. The police are brought in and it turns out the body of an old school mate of the cousins is contained in the tree. So how did he get there, was it a murder, and if so who could have killed him? So is Toby a suspect in this...apparently the police think so.
I enjoyed this novel for the most part. The plot had a lot of twists and turns and kept me guessing but in the end I was not too happy about the fate of Toby. I will be looking forward to reading more of French. I know her Dublin Murders is now a series on STARZ so I will probably be watching that as well.
This is a compelling read but not my favorite Tana French. It's a family saga/murder mystery with twists. I felt it was a bit longer than it needed to be but it is certainly worth reading.
