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The BookBrowse Review
The BookBrowse Review
Published December 4, 2024
ISSN: 1930-0018
The BookBrowse Review
Published December 4, 2024
ISSN: 1930-0018
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When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide.
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn't just any thirteen-year-old: she's the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region's residents. And this isn't the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara's older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore's multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore's most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
Carl
1961
It was seven in the evening already when the phone rang in the fire hall, jolting Carl Stoddard awake. He had fallen asleep on a cot after a long day in the sun. On ring two, he rose and blinked. By the third ring, he was in action, lifting the receiver with the same trepidation he always felt when answering. He disliked speaking in general; speaking into a telephone was worse.
"Carl Stoddard?" said a voice on the other end. This was Marcy Thibault, the local operator, whose years of experience had given her the uncanny ability to recognize voices.
"What's the bad news," said Carl—his standard response. A scripted line.
"I've got someone on the line for you from the Van Laar Preserve," said Marcy.
"Oh?" said Carl.
This was strange. Never in his life had Carl—a gardener at the Preserve—been contacted directly by his employers.
Maybe he'd left something there. Or maybe he'd done something wrong. Peter Van Laar was a man of strong opinions, and the landscaping was a special concern of his. Every year, the Van Laars threw a weeklong fling in July—the Blackfly Good‑by, they called it, in celebration of the seasonal change that saw the pest's departure from the area—and Mr. V wanted everything just so.
"How'd they find me at the hall?" asked Carl. His heartbeat was quickening. He was a tall, blond‑bearded, burly person, forty years old that summer, a football player in his youth—but he was timid, sensitive to changes in the weather and to the emotions of others, and he disliked conflict. Always had. Gardening was a vocation that suited him well.
"They didn't," said Marcy. "They don't know it's you there."
There were four of them that year in Shattuck Township's volunteer fire brigade. Aside from Carl, there was Dick Shattuck, the grocer; Bob Alcott, a history teacher at the central school nearby; and Bob Lewis, largely unemployed.
Together, a decade prior, they'd built the team from scratch, learning their trade from firefighting enterprises in neighboring towns, raising money for equipment at donation stands they set up at Christmastime and the Fourth of July. Once they got fire boots, they collected money in those.
They rented out an old garage and converted it to a fire hall with a bed and kitchen on‑site. They had Dick's wife Georgette, whose artistic talent annually gilded the grocery store's front windows, paint a sign.
It took them four years to get a proper vehicle—but by July of 1961, they had the whole operation up and running. A truck and hoses and, in town, four hydrants a stone's throw from Shattuck's only intersection with a stoplight. The volunteers were well trained. Each one of them, except Bob Lewis, was considered to have a positive attitude.
The night of July 10, 1961, it was no coincidence that Carl was on duty: he liked it at the fire hall. Signed up for night shifts as frequently as he could. It was the only place, aside from his car, where Carl ever felt truly alone. Here at the hall, he had nothing to do but read, or daydream, or sometimes fall asleep, and only very occasionally answer calls.
It took several seconds for Marcy Thibault to transfer him. And when a voice came through the wires, it wasn't a member of the staff, but Peter Van Laar himself—to whom Carl nodded each time they crossed paths at the Preserve, but to whom he had actually spoken maybe twice in his life. Van Laar was known by his employees and business associates as a stern, intolerant man, quieter than his wife but more vicious. He seemed to have no interest in conversation with anyone who worked for him, except at the highest levels; even to those at the top of the staff's hierarchy— groundskeeper, housekeeper—he spoke only briskly. He had a wolfish look about him, a leanness that signified hunger.
"Hello? Fire department?" said Van Laar, after being connected. The tone of his voice made Carl sit up straight, place his hand on the table.
"Yes," said Carl, "this is ...
Excerpted from The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Copyright © 2024 by Liz Moore. Excerpted by permission of Riverhead Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Bestselling author Liz Moore's latest novel, The God of the Woods, begins with a disappearance. On a summer morning in 1975 at Camp Emerson in the Adirondacks, camp counselor Louise realizes that one of her charges, 13-year-old Barbara, is not in her bunk. It soon becomes apparent that no one knows what's become of her. Complicating matters is that Barbara is the daughter of the wealthy Van Laar family (who own the camp and a mansion abutting it), and Barbara's brother, Bear, went missing 14 years earlier from the same area and was never found. Oh, and a serial killer who was active at the time of Bear's disappearance has recently escaped from prison and is believed to be in the area.
Moore's narrative structure is intricate; non-sequential chapters bounce among several points between 1950, when the children's mother Alice first meets their father Peter, and 1975, as the investigation into Barbara's whereabouts progresses. Chapters are also written from the viewpoint of different characters, so diverse voices and perspectives are explored. And finally, the plot concerns not only two separate mysteries but abounds with subplots, examining themes such as family dysfunction, class structure, and the roles of women during these decades. Although this sounds horribly complex, the author is so skilled that one never feels lost and not one line feels unnecessary or out of place.
Her writing, too, is brilliantly descriptive. At one point, Alice muses on how her marriage has changed over time ("It was funny, she thought, how many relationships one could have with the same man, over the course of a lifetime together"). Elsewhere, we see the Van Laar estate through the eyes of newly minted investigator Judy, as she observes:
"The lanky young people sprawled out on all the furniture in the great room are the people she is least eager to speak to. They look somehow like they should be feeding one another grapes; like young gods—in their own minds, at least."
Keen observations like these are sprinkled lavishly throughout the narrative.
The novel's main characters are female, and we get a detailed look at several of them; Alice, Louise, Judy, and Barbara's bunkmate Tracy are each awarded several chapters devoted to their lives, not only narrating the current investigation, but filling in their backstories as well. Others, such as TJ, the camp's director, are equally well described through the eyes of others. These characters are so vivid that readers are compelled to empathize with the challenges they face; grieving mother Alice, in particular, is heartbreakingly real. Rounding out the vast cast are assorted police officers, family members, boyfriends, staff, and fellow campers. Again, Moore's skill shines as she balances this enormous group of individuals, painting each with such a fine brush that even minor characters are distinct.
The only exceptions to Moore's skillful characterizations are a couple of her wealthy male antagonists. In contrast to the complex, sympathetic character of Alice, Moore's depictions of the men of Alice's class are less nuanced, generally portraying them as either narcissistic or vapid. A couple of plot points also felt like stretches. The book is so well-written overall that these minor transgressions jump out, though in the end they aren't significant enough to mar what is otherwise an exquisite reading experience.
The God of the Woods is an engrossing mystery that expands the genre into character study and a discussion of social norms. The book is highly recommended for those looking for a top-notch summer mystery, as well as anyone interested in an outstanding work of literary fiction.
Reviewed by Kim Kovacs
Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize winning author of Shuggie Bain
Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace
Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You
Rated 5 out of 5
by Bonnie G
Moore has done it again with another fantastic novel
This book is 10 out of 10. Moore does her magic with a multi perspective multi decade story of two disappearances separated by about 10 years, the first in the 1960s and the second in the 1970s. Saying anything more about the story gives it away. Best to enter this one cold and let it sweep you away till the well thought out and moving denouement.
Rated 5 out of 5
by Labmom55
One of my favorites of the year
One of my favorites of 2024
Liz Moore has once again crafted a dark, character rich mystery. A teenage girl goes missing from her summer camp in 1975. Fourteen years ago, her brother disappeared in these same woods. Barbara Van Laar is the daughter of the rich family that owns the camp. It’s a family that adheres to a strict set of social expectations and mores.
The story explores the class distinctions and misogyny of the day. Rich men called the shots, women and the lower classes are just meant to obey. The book goes back in time to the original disappearance of young Bear in 1961. Told mostly from the viewpoints of Alice, the mother, Louise, the blue collar camp counselor, Tracy, the bunkmate and friend of Barbara and Judyta, the criminal investigator. All were finely nuanced. But having started my career in a male dominated field in the 1970s, I especially engaged with Judyta.
Moore’s writing is richly detailed. The scenes of the camp, the woods, the Van Lear’s compound; they all were easy to envision. Short chapters kept the tension high. There were numerous times I shuddered over the way things played out. I was totally engrossed. Nothing else got done.
I thought I knew how this would play out but I was woefully wrong.
Saskia Maarleveld was excellent as the narrator.
Rated 5 out of 5
by Cathryn Conroy
Don't Go in the Woods! A Perfect Summer Novel—Missing Person Mystery Wrapped in a Domestic Drama
This may be the perfect summer novel. It's a multilayered mystery about a missing 13-year-old girl at a summer camp nestled deep in the Adirondacks and wrapped around a horrifying domestic drama. And secrets! So many secrets being closely guarded by so many people.
But it's more than that—a lot more. It's also a deftly written and intricate novel with vibrant characters whose very different stories about their troubles and worries and their quests for happiness and purpose in life are just as important as the underlying mystery.
Written by Liz Moore, the novel is told by multiple characters in alternating chapters that bounce around in time but in a way that is easy to follow and adeptly advances the story. From the moment Louise Donnadieu, the 23-year-old camp counselor at Camp Emerson, realizes that Barbara Van Laar is missing from her bunk in the early morning hours of an August day in 1975, the story is a whirlwind that sucks in the reader. The campers are taught on the first day that the forest around them is dangerous. If they are ever lost and alone, they are instructed (over and over again) to sit down and yell.
The camp is owned by a fabulously wealthy family, Peter and Alice Van Laar, whose son, Bear, went missing from the camp 14 years ago in 1961 when he was only eight years old. And Barbara, a troubled, angry teen, is their daughter, so this is no ordinary situation. We soon learn that all is not right in the Van Laar mansion located on the hill above the camp with shocking, appalling revelations about troubled Alice, who has never recovered from Bear's abduction, as well as deceitful Peter.
This truly is a character-driven novel with deep backstories and a richly descriptive narrative for each of them. From the awkward camper, Tracy Jewell, whose only friend is Barbara to the spoiled rich boy John Paul McLellan, who is toying with Louise to T.J. Hewitt, the no-nonsense woman who runs the camp to Lee Towson, the good-looking prep chef with a dark past to Judyta Luptack, a rookie police investigator who is the first female investigator in the state and the only woman on this large team that is hunting for Barbara. Add to this mix Jacob Sluiter, a notorious killer who haunted the area a decade ago and escaped from prison three weeks ago.
And the ending? It's perfect. It's a two-part ending: One gave me the shivers, while the other made me smile.
Rated 5 out of 5
by Jill
Addictive Read
THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore
Saskia Maarleveld always does an incredible narration. Another favorite narrator of mine. I also paired this with the book.
At an esteemed summer camp in 1975 in the Adirondack Mountains, a young teenage girl goes missing in the middle of the night when the camp counselors aren’t around. Tension and a sense of doom builds as it becomes known that the missing teen is, Barbara Van Laar, daughter of the wealthy family that owns the camp. This isn’t the first time the Van Laar’s had a missing child; Bear, Barbara’s older brother, who was eight, also went missing years prior. The mother, Alice Van Laar, has never recovered from when Bear went missing.
Moore’s story jumps around in time, from the 1950s into the '70s and features a host of characters. There are intricately interwoven plots among the crowded characters of this narrative. A literary suspense/crime read that will keep you reading and guessing.
“As it unfolds, “The God of the Woods” becomes more and more focused on how its female characters break free — or don’t — of the constraints of their time and social class. Whatever the case, breaking free of the spell Moore casts is close to impossible.” A quote from Maureen Corrigan, a book critic
Touching upon family dynamics, secrets, lies, guilt, betrayal, relationships, trust, abuses of various forms, submissiveness, grief, and justice.
Rated 4 out of 5
by Katherine M
Detailed writing style, unlikeable characters, but ultimately a fascinating read
There was a lot to like about this book, although I can see why some people would find it frustrating; there is a huge cast of characters, and there are multiple timelines. The writing style is also very pointed; Liz Moore uses a lot of very detailed writing, a matter-of-fact style that isn’t very flowery, or ‘pretty.’ It doesn’t help that most of the characters are unlikeable, so if that bothers you when reading, you might not enjoy this for that reason alone.
I like getting swept along in all the details, but they have to move the story forward to be necessary. (I think they were all necessary, but I didn’t have the time to pore through the text to analyze whether that was the case, when all was said and done.)
Overall, this must have an incredibly complex book to write (and edit), and I was mostly in awe of that, even if I was a little underwhelmed by the actual mystery or climax upon finishing.
Rated 4 out of 5
by Roberta
Good writing but poorly structured
There are so many good critical reviews of this book that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. And for the first one-third of the book I kept thinking “this is going to be really good,” but after that it turned into a bit of a slog. The main problem I had is that there are SIX different alternating timelines with different characters in each of the timelines. The timelines go back in forth in different decades. For me, it made the tension of the mystery fizzle. I couldn’t keep track of the characters (of which there were too many) and what part of the mystery they were in. The book really needs a flowchart of characters.
My rating would be 3.5 stars because I thought it was better than average, but it really wasn’t that good. The author writes well, but the structure did not work.
Liz Moore's mystery The God of the Woods begins with the disappearance of a girl from fictional Camp Emerson, a summer camp for children in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
For many children, attending summer camp is a rite of passage. According to a 2023 Newsweek article, there are over 12,000 summer camps across the United States, and some 20 million children—around 40 percent of children ages 6 to 18—attend at least one camp annually. Hundreds of different kinds of experiences are available now, with some catering to outdoor activities, some to arts and crafts, others to learning about potential careers such as robotics or computer programming.
Most historians believe the first summer camp in the United States was established at the end of the Civil War. Educator and abolitionist Frederick Gunn ran a boarding school in Washington, Connecticut, and in 1861 he decided to take his pupils on a character-building field trip of sorts. He marched about 40 students to a beach on Long Island Sound (a mere 42 miles away) where the children set up camp. The next ten days were devoted to fishing, foraging, and trapping, and the children also participated in military drills (the belief being they'd eventually serve in the Union Army). The venture was such a success that it became a tradition for the next 15 years and inspired numerous copycats during the following decades.
At first, camps were private and geared toward the children of wealthier parents. Middle-class and lower-class parents often couldn't afford the fees, and poorer families frequently depended on their children's labor year-round. One of the first private camps, The North Mountain School of Physical Culture in Pennsylvania, charged $200 for a four-month stay (close to $6000 in today's dollars). According to the American Camp Association website, its purpose was to take "weakly boys out into camp life in the woods...so that the pursuit of health could be combined with the practical knowledge outside usual academic lines." Another early camp, Camp Chocorua (founded in New Hampshire in 1881) taught their charges to rough it by mandating that they leave their servants at home.
Summer camps began to change around the turn of the century as a result of increased industrialization. More families were drawn to cities for work, and religious and community leaders became concerned about the lack of outdoor opportunities for children in an urban environment. They feared that boys in particular would become idle and morally corrupt if left to their own devices for a whole summer. Added to that worry was the common belief that too much indoor time was "feminizing," and for boys to develop into strong men, time in the outdoors was essential. Low-cost camps and those sponsored by civic and religious organizations began springing up across the country to provide boys with the opportunity to connect with nature. Most focused on swimming, rowing, shooting and hunting, and developing leadership skills.
Girls' camps became popular around World War I. These were less about spending time outdoors and more about teaching homemaking skills such as cooking, sewing, and how to be a good mother. They were also formed to counter the "New Woman" or "Flapper" culture, where women wore short skirts, smoked cigarettes, and flaunted their sexuality. Interestingly, this programming failed in many cases; girls away from home for the first time often came back feeling newly independent, much to the chagrin of their parents.
The camps were segregated not only by sex but by race. The first camp for Black youth was Camp Atwater, established in 1921 in Massachusetts. Camps focused specifically on religious identities began to appear as well. There were even political camps, such as Camp Kinderland in Massachusetts, opened in 1923 and devoted to teaching children about socialism.
The focus of the camp experience shifted dramatically after World War II. Before, the camp's purpose was mainly to prepare the child for adulthood. After witnessing the traumas of war, however, more people began to look at childhood as a time of innocence, and to feel children should be allowed to enjoy this brief period in their lives as fully as possible. As a result, camps increasingly steered toward providing fun activities for children and away from character-building.
Today, the summer camp experience can vary greatly. Many do provide overnight stays (lasting anywhere from a weekend to months), but more recently there's been a trend toward day camps, where a child spends each night at home in their own bed. There are even summer camps for adults, which offer the same experiences some may be nostalgic for (swimming, campfires, and sing-a-longs)—but, unlike kids' camps, they generally allow copious amounts of alcohol.
Camp Atwater Ballet Group, 1951, courtesy of BlackPast.org
Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities
By Kim Kovacs
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