Staff Pick
Nora begrudgingly agrees to attend the "hen do" of the best friend from whom she's been 10 years estranged: bad mistake. Set in a glass manor in the English countryside — away from all civilization, and with a storm on the way — the party collapses rapidly. There's an Ouija board, free-flowing alcohol, footsteps in the snow, a shotgun...
Examining themes of duplicity, jealousy, ruined friendships, mental illness, and the importance of the opinions of others, In a Dark, Dark Wood is the perfect answer to a reading rut, a long vacation, or simply what to read next. Wickedly delicious. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.
Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?”, Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
In the tradition of Paula Hawkins's instant New York Times bestseller The Girl On the Train and S. J. Watson’s riveting national sensation Before I Go To Sleep, this gripping literary debut from UK novelist Ruth Ware will leave you on the edge of your seat through the very last page.
Review
“An enchantingly unsettling thriller with mysterious characters and a classically spooky setting.” Shelf Awareness
Review
“In a Dark, Dark Wood packs a noirish punch that would make the Queen of Crime herself proud.” Bustle
Review
“The best thing about In A Dark, Dark Wood is the eerie atmosphere it creates for this ill-fated weekend, never overwrought, just ominous enough, the glass house where the guests are trapped ‘dark and silent, blending into the trees, almost invisible.’” USAToday.com
Review
“WARNING: This book is hot. Do not pick it up late at night or if you are in a dark, dark wood...Ruth Ware has a gift. This British author’s first foray into fiction is a hit…it delivers a punch and keeps you guessing—an ideal August psychodrama that reminds us why mysteries remain such fun—except at night.” The New York Journal of Books
Review
"Ware slowly unspools the mystery, setting a truly spooky scene…with a constant undercurrent of danger. Read it on adark and stormy night—with all the lights on." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"I raced through this, totally unable to put it down...Dark, smart and compulsive." Nicci Cloke, author of Lay Me Down
Review
I started In a Dark, Dark Wood on an airplane, kept dipping into it whenever I was left alone, devoured another big chunk on the flight home, and after that surrendered myself to it until the last revelation had bloomed, the final surprise had exploded, and the bittersweet conclusive turn had folded the final page. Ruth Ware has written an exciting, and in fact amazing book that never stops circling around behind the reader and clapping its cold hands over her eyes. Peter Straub, New York Times bestselling author
About the Author
Ruth Ware grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before returning to the UK. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer. She now lives in London with her husband and two small children.