The God of the Woods is a multi generational story about a rich family who owns a large plot of land in the woods. They also run a summer camp for tweens and teens. When their daughter decides to attend the camp and disappears during the family’s annual summer party, it mimics the disappearance of their son over a decade before. During the search, family secrets come to the forefront as well as the truth about local legends and townsfolk.
This book is told from the perspective of multiple characters. A camp counselor who is secretly engaged to one of the rich people attending the party ends up framed for the disappearance. The woman running the camp hides secrets from the past to protect a family member. A female investigator, rare for 1975, desperately tries to solve the case under the misogynistic eyes of her male peers. A teenage girl befriends the family’s daughter at camp before the disappearance. And the mother of both missing children hides behind drugs as she struggles with her husband’s infidelity.
Liz Moore gives plenty of time to bring each of these characters to life. Each has their own voice and interpretations of events. In the time period, 1960-1975, the author speaks on themes of male expectations of women, parental expectations of their children, and the differences between what it is to be rich and to be poor. How she manages to juggle all of this in the context of the plot is impressive to say the least and she does it through beautiful, descriptive writing. The setting is vibrant. The characters feel real and rooted in history.
What is more impressive is that even when you think you have solved the puzzle using the clues that Moore has peppered throughout the story, the author adds a new layer of intrigue that makes you question what is true. Can the reader trust these narrators? Can we trust how they receive information? Can the characters? Does the death of one child foreshadow the death of another? All questions that get answered in what is a surprisingly fulfilling ending to a book that is hard to put down.
5 out of 5 stars. Pick up this book and give it a read. You won’t be able to put it down.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
The God of the Woods is a multi generational story about a rich family who owns a large plot of land in the woods. They also run a summer camp for tweens and teens. When their daughter decides to attend the camp and disappears during the family’s annual summer party, it mimics the disappearance of their son over a decade before. During the search, family secrets come to the forefront as well as the truth about local legends and townsfolk.
This book is told from the perspective of multiple characters. A camp counselor who is secretly engaged to one of the rich people attending the party ends up framed for the disappearance. The woman running the camp hides secrets from the past to protect a family member. A female investigator, rare for 1975, desperately tries to solve the case under the misogynistic eyes of her male peers. A teenage girl befriends the family’s daughter at camp before the disappearance. And the mother of both missing children hides behind drugs as she struggles with her husband’s infidelity.
Liz Moore gives plenty of time to bring each of these characters to life. Each has their own voice and interpretations of events. In the time period, 1960-1975, the author speaks on themes of male expectations of women, parental expectations of their children, and the differences between what it is to be rich and to be poor. How she manages to juggle all of this in the context of the plot is impressive to say the least and she does it through beautiful, descriptive writing. The setting is vibrant. The characters feel real and rooted in history.
What is more impressive is that even when you think you have solved the puzzle using the clues that Moore has peppered throughout the story, the author adds a new layer of intrigue that makes you question what is true. Can the reader trust these narrators? Can we trust how they receive information? Can the characters? Does the death of one child foreshadow the death of another? All questions that get answered in what is a surprisingly fulfilling ending to a book that is hard to put down.
5 out of 5 stars. Pick up this book and give it a read. You won’t be able to put it down.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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