The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

I loved this book. There are several narrators: Louise, camp counselor; Tracy, camper; Alice, mother of Barbara; Jacob, accused and convicted murderer; Carl, gardener of the Van Laar Preserve; Judyta, BCI Investigator; and Victor, Director of Camp Emerson. The story alternates from the 1950s to 1961 to Winter 1973 to June 1975 to July 1975 to August 1975. There are other key characters (Barbara, TJ, Bear, three Peters, Delphine, John Paul), but we learn about them from someone else's perspective. The way the story is interwoven between timelines makes the story even more fast-paced.

The central family of this story is the Van Laars. Peter Van Laar 1 bought the land on which the homestead is built. By all accounts, he was a kind and generous man. He cared about the land and about people. The homestead was named Self-Reliance. Camp Emerson was developed on part of the Van Laar Preserve so that children could spend two months of their summer learning the land and how to survive on it. Peter Van Laar 2 didn't quite have the same vision. He was more controlling and domineering and wasn't necessarily well-liked. Peter Van Laar 3 was handsome and charming, but pretty much a jerk. When he was 29 years old, he chose to marry Alice, who was only 17 years old when they met. She was pretty and malleable. Just what he wanted in a wife. He wanted a son, which she promptly delivered (Peter Van Laar 4, but called Bear) and then he told Alice that they would not be having any more children. That was pretty much their relationship. The only thing they had in common was their love of Bear.

Bear was an adventurous and spirited child that was loved by everyone at Self-Reliance, including all the staff. He tragically disappeared when he was 8 years old, after he went for a walk with his grandfather, Peter 2. Carl, the gardener, was eventually accused of killing Bear, even though Bear was never found. Peter 3 and Alice end up having another child after Bear's disappearance. They named her Barbara. Barbara's parents weren't overly invested or engaged in her life. She was a difficult child, which made things worse. Victor Hewitt's daughter, TJ Hewitt, took over as the Director of Camp Emerson after her father could no longer handle the responsibility as he aged. TJ also took over as Barbara's "mother figure", since Alice was never the same after Bear disappeared.

Barbara declared to Alice in the summer of 1975 that she wanted to attend Camp Emerson as a camper. She befriended Tracy, who was new to the camp and was struggling with her own family life (parent's divorce, dad's new girlfriend, etc.) One morning, Tracy woke up and Barbara was gone. Louise was the camp counselor responsible for the girls in Barbara & Tracy's cabin, and she had left them unattended for part of the night. That's when Judyta joins the story, as one of the investigators who arrives at the Van Laar Preserve to find Barbara, or at least figure out what happened to her.

Despite the number of characters, the story is well-written and easy to follow, even considering the jumping around in timelines. I really enjoyed the ride.

Wendy's Rating: *****