In a Dark Wood

Rating:
Summary: One of the Year's Ten Best
Review: Although the words "a real page-turner...couldn't put it down" are as over-used in reviews as an ATM in Vegas, no other words more accurately describe this book. From page one, Craig carries the reader through a delightful roller-coaster ride of emotions. Combining our hero's search for the truth (about his deceased mother) with the fairy tales (his Mother wrote) he can not escape, IN A DARK WOOD makes for an intriguing novel, sure to be on every critics "ten best" list come December. Please, more from Amanda Craig (she has a number of novels available in England, but not America)- and soon!

Rating:
Summary: Can I Read It Backwards?
Review: Amanda Craig's book "In A Dark Wood" is the first of hers I've read. There must have been at least five times in the reading of the story that I put the book down in disgust wondering how anyone as obnoxiously self-centered as Benedick Hunter could be the main character. Craig certainly was not shooting for a "Conspiracy of Dunces" effect. It wasn't until I got to the end, realized what the unifying issue was to the character, that the heartstrings open and you feel great for having read this book. Having a protagonist with mental illness is always an uphill battle because sane readers need a handle to hold onto. While I agree that this was a great book, it was somewhat difficult to live with this character for the duration of the read. For example, near the end of the story when Benedick is in South Carolina, he hangs up on his ex-wife and says that he's not bringing their son back; how does one have sympathy for a kidnapper? I'm glad I came back and finished the book. The fairy tales within the book are marvelous. It would have been fun to have the illustrations referred to also included. The unravelling of the family secrets propels the novel and gives it a nice sense of pacing. While I think I might have enjoyed this book more if I could have read it backwards, I do think it's one worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: A fairy tale of a novel, strictly for grown-ups
Review: Anybody who still thinks fairy tales are mere bedtime stories for kids has to check out Amanda Craig's new In a Dark Wood, which uses their mythic, roadmap qualities to illuminate a life and in the process create a fascinating, intelligent, page-turner of a novel. Grounded in a fictional fairy tale created by the protagonist's author-illustrator mother, In a Dark Wood takes off, in a smartly multi-layered way, into explorations of family history, failure, loss, survival and breakdown. Amazingly Craig (whose work is finally crossing the ocean from England to North America, thank heavens,) manages this with a miraculous dark wit - a kind of authorial magic flashing through her dark wood.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, excellent writer; US welcomes Amanda Craig!
Review: At last, one of Amanda Craig's books is available in the U.S.! I loved the mixture of dark and light in this novel--and I loved that Craig took a minor figure from her last book, A Vicious Circle (Georgina's husband) and gave him his own book. (IDW stands on its own as a novel, but the fact that it's linked to her previous 3 novels gives the reader added pleasure.) As she did in A Vicious Circle, A Private Place, and Foreign Bodies, in IDW Craig explores and extends a world of relations, relationships, and friends. One thing I love about Craig's novels way she brings to life the particular world described in each of them--the Italian town with creepy expats in FB, the progressive boarding school in APP, the romantically and journalistically linked vicious circle of VC. The new world she's staking out here is mental illness and the recovery of an unknown parental past; she does it so well it feels like...a thoroughly enjoyable hell. Here's hoping the rest of her books get issued over here -- I'm getting tired of lending my copies around.

Rating:
Summary: Light and Dark
Review: Benedick Hunter is having what at first appears to be a middle-aged crisis. He's an actor who hasn't had any steady work recently. His wife is divorcing him and he bickers constantly with his pompous father. He finds little joy from taking care of his imaginative, but demanding young children. Benedick lives off from the small amount of royalties from his mother's children's books. After rediscovering one of these collection of fairy tales he begins reading the stories for deeper personal meanings. He's compelled to follow a trail of his mother's old friends who are scattered over Britain and America like a trail of breadcrumbs. The mysteries contained in her subversive fables lead him to his mother's childhood home and the truth about his family that has been hidden from him. Gradually he learns that his alienation from society and erratic behaviour has its roots in a mental illness. But he has to descend into the darkest psychological depths in order to learn how to live with this disorder.

In this beautiful and moving novel, Craig manages to write very convincingly about a man's perspective of the world. Benedick's personal aspirations are clouded by despair in a way that prevents him from also appreciating all the loving people he has in his life. Unfortunately, he has also inherited a lot of pain and bitterness from his mother's life, many of the facts of which have been hidden from him. We are also given many funny details about the cultural differences between America and England. What the author also does so extraordinarily well is show a blend of light and dark in this central character's psychology. He does a number of detestable things. Yet we are given insight into them and understand they are acts of desperation brought about through a mental illness he can't control. Craig pays tribute to the important and complex work of Angela Carter who was dubbed the Fairy Godmother of British fiction. She does this by insisting that fairy tales have a much deeper meaning than what appears on the surface. The raucous emotions and terrible violence they depict just may be a greater reflection of reality than we care to admit. The psychological demons which hound many people are indeed more terrifying than the creatures who lurk in the dark woods of fairy tales. By blending the story of Benedick's travels with a number of creative fairy tales, Craig gives us a lot of insight into this while producing an enthralling story.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and dark
Review: Benedick Hunter makes for a readable anti-hero in this novel which uses the fairy tale as a detective lens to look for the roots of suicide and madness. The subject matter Craig picks is ripe for overstatement so it is wonderful that she manages to get the tone just right. She stays tight and economical with her language and as a result the images that she does use are striking and well-crafted. The ending is a trifle precious and pat. I understood the point, but acknowledging the illness is only the first step to recovery. Aside from this minor quarrel, In a Dark Wood makes for a fine and moving read.

Rating:
Summary: Dark, mesmerizing
Review: Dark and mesmerizing summarizes this novel by Amanda Craig. Spiraling through mental illness and self-discovery, the main character is very believable and intense. This novel is story-telling at its best.

Rating:
Summary: extraordinary, mesmerising novel
Review: Having suffered from clinical depression and known others with manic depression, I was hooked by the idea of a novel about it - and amazed to find it not only deeply sensitive to the condition but a great piece of fiction too. What nobody so far has mentioned is that it's very FUNNY. Craig has segued the idea of someone going on an Oedipal quest to discover the truth about himself with the confusion many men feel about their place in a world increasingly dominated by women. I laughed so much at Benedick's attempts to cope with his kids, his failing career as an actor, even his self-pity before being plunged into his heart of darkness. There are so many smart observations, but this is a deep book about our need for stories, and about finding sanity and hope in the midst of despair.

Rating:
Summary: Not stories that heal
Review: I thought this novel would explore the world of depression and how stories such as fairy tales can be used to help the healing process--sort of a Women Who Run with the Wolves meets the modern British novel--but that didn't seem the case to me. The fairy tales, which are the best parts of the novel, don't really bring about many changes in the main character, Benedick Hunter. Finding a copy of his mother's fairy tales, he finds himself curious to know why she commited suicide when he was six. So he starts to search for answers. He continues to read the fairy tales, but after sparking the initial curiosity, they simply become curiosities themselves. The end is resolved in an overly tidy, quick and improbable manner that disappointed me. Read the fairy tales and the rest is easily skipped.

Rating:
Summary: Darkness Prevails
Review: IN A DARK WOOD is unlike any other book I've read - and I loved it! Topics include England, America, divorce, fairy tales, and skeletons in the family closet.

A man nearing 40 is getting a divorce from his wife and has to re-evaluate his life. He discovers a dark fairy tale book written by his mother, who killed herself when he was 6, and he has very little recollection of her. Tracking down his mother's friends and reading the stories help him learn about his past, his family and himself.

The writing style is very smart. The dark fairy stories within the book are killer and they neatly parallel what happened in the mother's past as well as the protagonist's present. The story starts off right in the middle of his moving out of his house, and then continues on a steady pace, building and spiraling until the end.

This book was right up my alley. I look forward to reading more works by Amanda Craig.