Review: The Witch Elm
/
3 stars. WELL FUCK. I should've loved this. This is my fourth French, and I love her, love her still, even though this didn't hit quite right. Allow me to explain:
1) I'm starting to detect a pattern in French's writing, and certain familiar motifs. This felt similar to Faithful Place in a couple of ways: the well-written and cringe-y Awkward Family Event(s); the Awkward Family Dynamics among siblings I mean cousins; a protagonist who is completely blind about people he's known his whole life; the morality crisis... I could go on. I love that French writes about these things so deftly, it just didn't feel fresh this time.
2) I figured it out way too early! Like less than halfway through! Damn it!
The Witch Elm is about a young, easygoing guy named Toby who on one random and horrifying night is brutally attacked by a couple of burglars. It is nearly impossible for him to adjust to his new body, his new life, the new challenges - he is essentially handicapped. He decides to move to an idyllic childhood holiday home to care for his dying uncle and continue his recovery, but all is interrupted when a skull is discovered in the backyard garden.
It's kind of a weird premise. All the way through I kept wondering whether or not this would be about Toby's injury, his recovery, the burglary itself or whatnot, and it sort of turns into a mishmash of several mysteries orbiting this struggling guy. It takes awhile. I understand French is trying to do a lot here: she's picking apart the concept of luck, exploring victimhood and morality, measuring the weight of choices both small and large... all themes I typically enjoy. It just wasn't enjoyable, here, for me. I should've felt so satisfied watching Toby - who is essentially a golden fuckboy I'd resent so hard IRL - spiral into oblivion after experiencing loss and hardship for the first time. But I didn't. And I almost didn't even care.
That being said, it's unputdownable. French's writing is as delightfully colloquial as ever, and I love her use of detail. I didn't even mind the questionable plot, and that's bothered me somewhat in her other mysteries. It's not that I wouldn't recommend this, I would - it's a solid, deeply philosophical literary thriller - but it doesn't sparkle the way her Dublin Squad books do.