The story is disjointed, and takes forever to really get going. Don't get me wrong, I think French can write - there are some great dialogue scenes in "The Witch Elm," and she does set up a decent universe for the book to exist in - but I don't think even she cares about these characters in the book. This was my first time reading a Tana French novel, and after hearing about her as an author, I'm wondering if I should have started with another one of her works, first. It builds and it builds and then when you come to the end you know everything that has happened and shaped these people, this family and how it has impacted all of their lives. The journey this new information takes him on reshapes his personal narrative. It is only after a tragic event that he learns about well-kept family secrets held within a witch elm on the property of his family's ancestral home. Like most people, Toby is an unreliable narrator. It's easy to forget you're reading a novel and not having a conversation with Toby, the narrator. There's something familiar about the way French writes. In addition to complaining that the dust jacket gives away the plot of the first 140 pages (which it does), King praised Tana French's work - her fourth book and first stand-alone piece. I first became interested in reading "The Witch Elm" after a reading Stephen King's review in The New York Times Sunday Book Review.
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