By: Laird Hunt
Synopsis
In this ingenious horror story set in colonial New England, a woman goes missing. Or not missing – perhaps she has fled, abandoned her family. Or perhaps she’s been kidnapped and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes.
On a journey that will take her through a wolf-haunted wood, down a deep well, and onto a living ship made of human bones, our heroine is forced to confront her past and may find that the evil she flees has been inside her all along.
My Thoughts
This was a very strange book, though I did enjoy it. I feel like it is supposed to be an allegory for something, but I could never really pinpoint what. I enjoyed the imagery and writing style, but found the story to be disjointed at best. I also really liked the cover (not that you should judge a book by its cover, but that is what made me pick it up). I kept feeling like I was on the edge of seeing some deeper meaning intended by the author, but then it would slip away as things would take a strange and disconnected turn. I had trouble finding any cohesion. Is it a story about mental illness? About guilt? I get that it’s about oppression and abuse. I get that they are playing a big game of “Change About.” I get that they commited murder. What else am I missing? What was the point? Does Red Boy represent the evil that lurks inside us and the stone cottage guilt? Or does Red Boy represent all that is bad in their lives and the cottage their “prison” because they can’t escape their lives? And is the little girl Hope representing their hope to one day be free from the abuse and oppression, but as time goes on she fades out of their life much as their hope has faded? Did the women snap under their oppressive lives, commit murder, then go insane from the guilt? Do the dark woods actually represent a prison or institution? And why can they only leave the cottage when someone else willingly takes their place? What in the world was the boat made of bones and skin and the man with the children in his cellar supposed to represent? Am I trying to read too deeply into it and it’s simply a very weird and interesting story? So many questions, and the more I ask the more I have. There are many directions we could take with possible symbolism, but none that ties everything together. And therein lies the problem I’m having with this book. I did enjoy reading it, and perhaps I need to reread it to better understand it. I cannot wait to read your thoughts on this one. I’m hoping you have some insights that I missed.