The Witch Elm by Tana French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
More a suspense-family drama than mystery, The Witch Elm was not what I expected from Tana French. I knew going in it was a stand alone, but still believed I’d be drawn into a mystery by a writer who does mystery so well.
Instead, French writes a brooding, dark, suspenseful tale where there is no body until about halfway in to a very long novel. What we have is a character study, plot is a side issue really and if you care who-done-it, it’s pretty easy to figure out.
French uses memory loss as a device in flaying open family secrets, dark parts of personalities, and fractured relationships. There are no happy people in this place, no possibility for happy endings, just a slow unraveling of everything the main character believed about self and others.
The writing, as always, is stellar. But for those used to a mystery where character, plot and action all need semi-equal attention, you’ll be disappointed. The pace is granular. Every nuance of thought, feeling, sensation, is here.
I’ve read it and still am unsure about it. But I was compelled to finish it…really compelled. So there is something here, I’m just not sure what other than a good author presenting her trade well done. But perhaps, just perhaps, I would have loved it at half the length.
