In a Dark Wood - Softcover

Craig, Amanda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857027000 ISBN 13: 9781857027006

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2011

Synopsis

A major new work by the bestselling author of A Vicious Circle, on a larger scale and more serious than her previous fiction, but with her characteristic satirical edge and page-turningly suspenseful plotting.

Benedick Hunter is a failure. A divorced father and unemployed actor sunk in self-pity, his life takes a new direction when he finds a book of his dead mother’s fairy-tales in which real people and events from a tragic past seem to be depicted. Hunter embarks on a bizarre and darkly comic quest which takes him and his small son Cosmo to America – to the heart of parenthood, manic depression, fairy-tales and love.

About this title

Review:

Fairy tales are stuffed to the brim with dark woods--dark woods in which dwarves and hermits lurk, trees bleed when struck with an axe and princes and princesses are tested to within a hair's breadth of their lives. When Benedick Hunter finds a book of fairy tales written by his mother he knows there are dark woods within but is unaware of just how dangerous fairy tales can be. In A Dark Wood is his journey to discover his mother's secrets, the truths behind her stories and why she committed suicide when he was still a child. This is also a journey to find out more about himself, his "amorphous moods" and the "stink of failure" that plagues him following a divorce and a long spell of unemployment.

In A Dark Wood unravels through a matrix of fairy tales and half-forgotten memories leading from London in the 1960s to present-day New York and the white verandaed houses of North Carolina (hemmed in, of course, by dark woods). It's Amanda Craig's fourth novel, following the acclaimed A Vicious Circle, which is currently being developed for BBC television. Craig confirms with this novel that she is a voice to listen to, a bold writer who is not frightened to deliver a harrowing read. That said, In A Dark Wood has a lighter side and is shot through with a magical feel--as all good fairy tales should be.--Jane Honey

Review:

‘An intelligent and gripping novel. Wonderful, page-turning storytelling.’The Times

‘Exhibits the same incisiveness and intelligence as her acclaimed A Vicious Circle. Witty and disturbing, it is a novel of both accomplishment and charm.’ Daily Mail

‘A book within a book, a rich plot with plenty of on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense, an abundance of quirky but believable character...’In A Dark Wood’ is an elegant anti-fairy tale for adults that keeps you guessing until the last few pages.’Daily Express

'An eerie novel full of fairy-tale menace...beguilingly told and hypnotic.' Independent on Sunday

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1857027000
• ISBN 13: 9781857027006
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288