Named a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 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 TimesAn “extraordinary” (Stephen King) and “mesmerizing” (LA Times) new standalone novel from the master of crime and suspense and … new standalone novel from the master of crime and suspense and author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher.
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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Tana French is always wonderful, although this is not my favorite. This murder mystery is told from the point of view of one of the suspects, rather than a traditional police procedural. It’s a compelling story, but ends with long exposition. Glad I read it, but hope she’ll return to the Dublin Murder Squad.
Tana French writes excellent crime – police procedural stories. The Witch Elm is not that, at least not in the style of her Murder Squad books. This book a psychological suspense story that deals with human perception. What do you really ever know about someone – someone you think you know well? How will circumstances uncover the unseen? How well do you know yourself if a hidden blemish from your past, something deeply buried, resurfaced to your own doubt and surprise? It’s pushing the dominos backward into a dark place. Good stuff.
Tana French is both a master stylist and a gripping story-teller — this may be her best yet, after Faithful Place (which I would have previously called her best yet!). A long read, but worth the investment of time and attention.
A very well written book and great dialogue. Clearly every action has a consequence. But the characters were so unlikeable and the ending was not very satisfying. But I’m still thinking about the book
The Witch Elm is a great mystery with in-depth characterization. It grapples with big questions like what defines a good person and what is justice. It’s not just a good read; it’s literature.
Self-involved, narcissistic and oblivious Toby Hennessy receives a harsh come-uppance in Tana French’s newest novel, The Witch Elm. This first-person narrative allows the reader to witness Toby’s transformation from an entitled jokester to a man shaken by events that cause him to question his morality and potential for cruelty. Toby works in PR at an art gallery when he is not out drinking with his friends or cuddled up with his wonderfully perfect and adoring girlfriend. After a typical night at the pub, Toby is awakened to the sound of strangers in his flat. When he surprises the burglars, Toby gets beaten so badly that he sustains a traumatic head injury that leaves him severely impaired. His recovery leaves him ashamed of his new limitations, and he soon sinks into a drug-hazed depression. His cousin suggests that Toby could use his medical leave to help their uncle, who is dying of cancer. Toby accedes to the plan when his girlfriend agrees to accompany him to his Uncle Hugh’s house, a long-time family estate and the location of many childhood memories. Toby struggles to manage his physical and mental difficulties but finds comfort in a new routine in the familiar surroundings. Their peace doesn’t last long, however. A skull is discovered in a tree on the grounds during a family meeting, leading to a disruptive and extensive police investigation. The evidence points to a potential murder that must have occurred during Toby’s adolescence, and he and other family members become the main suspects. Toby tries to do a bit of sleuthing, but his inquiries reveal some disturbing things about himself that he may have never realized or just can’t remember. Toby begins to distrust his family and his version of past events, leading him to question motives and suspect shared secrets. Tana French has an amazing ability to construct complete characters, making them so familiar with all their flaws and foibles. It is a testament to her talent that she can portray such an unlikeable character that believably evolves through her storytelling to become sympathetic. Much more than just an imaginative and well-plotted mystery, The Witch Elm is a study in the delusions brought about by privilege and entitlement. The author explores the theme of luck-by birth or circumstance-and whether experiences and/or nature allow certain people to avoid difficulties that would plague others. She addresses how small choices and purposeful ignorance can lead to a crisis of self. Fans of Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series will be delighted to see her talents sustained and expanded in this exceptional standalone addition to her work.
it was good
There’s no one I love more for character development than Tana French and this particular book is off the charts with it. Her characters are flawed – sometimes criminally so – and layered. It’s such a pleasure to read her books, even this one where the subject matter is so dark and there’s no real “good guy” to root for.
Is there a tana French book that doesn’t rate five stars? I’ve read them all and enjoyed them all.
Love everything she writes
There are so many good reviews of this book!!! Why? Most stated that if you get past the slow start, the story progresses and grabs your attention. I got through the first 200 pages and was still waiting for literally anything to happen! Two events took place that were central to the story but that wasn’t what was going on in those 200 pages. It was merely page after page of very unlikeable characters dribbling on about pretty much nothing. So what about the last 3000, oops, I mean 300 pages? Slow going as well. Even when the story reached its peak and secrets were revealed, I had to fight the urge to skip large portions.
Clearly, different types of books appeal to different types of readers though. This book did nothing for me. I didn’t enjoy the story, the characters or the excessive length. I try not to post negative reviews but I just couldn’t find anything I enjoyed in this book unfortunately.
Others clearly like this book, so I suggest you give it a try and decide for yourself of course!
Great writing (as is usual with Tana French). Great characters who will surprise you.
I thought I knew exactly where this book was headed.
I was dead wrong.
No pun intended.
Much better than reviews led me to believe. It seems that Tana French’s fans expect all her books to be about the same thing. This is not a murder mystery. She is a good storyteller and this book focuses on the main character’s growth over the course of a few months after an attack that almost ends his life.
I thoroughly enjoyed this recent book by Tana French, and am glad I didn’t listen to the bad reviews of her disappointed fans.
I had only read one book before from this author and that was “The Trespasser” which I loved. This book was just an o.k. read for me, here’s why.
I’m getting a bit tired of unreliable narrators, this seems to be a trend lately. Toby is about as unreliable as you can get since he has suffered a severe brain injury right at the beginning of the story. It all starts, as he states, on the night that he walked home from the pub to his house quite drunk and went to bed without turning on the door alarm. During the night some men came in and robbed him. He interrupted their ransaking when he opened the door to the main room and turned on the lights. It was at this point that they beat him almost to the point of death.
So the story started out with a bang. From there we have many hundreds of pages describing his recovery, his relationship with his girlfriend, Melissa, etc. Finally amidst all of this upheaval he gets a message that his Uncle Hugo is terminally ill and between suggestions from his mother and his own thoughts of wonderful summers spent at Uncle Hugo’s Ivy house with his cousins Susanna and Leon “, he decides to temporarily move there to keep an eye on his uncle and his health. To his happy surprise Melissa decides to join him. There are many weeks of things going quite happily, considering his uncle’s diagnosis. I have to say this part of the book really moved slowly for me.
One Sunday Susanna and her family and Leon were visiting at the Ivy House, there is a blood chilling scream from the yard. “Zach and Sallie were standing at the bottom of the garden. Both of them were rigid, arms out in shock and by this time both of them were screaming, Sallie’s piercing inhuman high note rising above Zach’s ragged howls”. Turns out that the children have discovered a human skull in a deep hole in the Witch Elm in the garden. The adults do what seemed right at the time and called the police.
The detectives spend weeks and weeks investigating the skull, ruining the garden with their digging and setting everyone’s nerves on edge. They did find an entire skeleton and identified it as Dominic, a friend of Toby’s and now they have to find out the reason the skeleton is here. Did his commit suicide as had originally been thought, did someone kill him, did he fall by accident?
The story slows down quite a bit as we are introduced thoroughly to each of Toby’s cousins, what they were like when they were teens spending summers at the Ivy House and what they are like now. Ms. French relies entirely on our interest in her characters to move the story along, it doesn’t really make for a page turner. Her writing as always is superb and I always learn new words when reading her books. Here are a few for you to ponder: “hippogriff, decoction, burger and garrote.
Just when things seem to be winding down and I was really getting tired of the book, bang, something really disturbing happens. This was at about 85% so it came as quite a shock. What ensues next is for you to discover as well as the ending.
Ms. French did touch on some timely topics with this story including, family relations, bullying, PTSD and sexual harassment. I do love reading her novels just for the beautiful writing. My stars would be 5 for writing and 3 for slowness of the plot. On this afterthought I am changing my rating to 4 stars but remember you will have to have patience!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.