the teenaged protagonist of Laura Elizabeth Woolletts The Wood Of Suicides, bears a name that echoes with mythology, and wears a wounded heart upon her sleeve.
Like so many teens, on the cusp of adulthood, she still views her father as a hero, even a god, But this god dies, leaving his daughter lost and alone, Suddenly all her anchors come adrift, Laura finds herself attending a girls boarding school, creating her own myths to match her loss, and narrating her life with the same selfcentered unreliability she now sees in the gods.
A teacher, himself a mythic figure, fills the place of the missing father in Laurels dreams, Her fantasies begin to cross the line, and his to cross the hall, School life, school conversation and school relationships are all convincingly complex and incomplete, But the strictness of English literature yields to the lure of Greek tragedy as the story progresses, and science submits to the promise of the Fall.
The story maybe lags a little at the start, but after the fall its filled with powerful descriptions, an enthralling and haunting exploration of young love betrayed, and a literary sense of wonder.
Wellchosen references lend depth to the tale, and behind it all is that frightening allure of, “hidden among the wisteria, a festering hornets nest.
”
Not an easy read, this book is relatively short, somewhat disturbing, deeply enthralling, and wonderfully crafteda myth rewrit for the modern world, and truly a memorable tale.
Disclosure: I received a free ecopy from the publisher with a request for my honest review,
Poetically cringeworthy, this book paints a toxic picture of forbidden and condemned romance,
Beautifully written and compelling to read, I found myself reading sentences I didn't want to finish, but couldn't stop the freighttrain the doomed lovers had set in motion.
When I started The Wood of Suicides, it was immediately clear to me that it would hold my attention to the very end.
Laurel is a character who, while not quite endearing, is very human, and captivated me to want to get inside her mind and "figure her out" though it is certainly obvious why she is so unstable.
Her middleaged English teacher/pursuer is one who effectively gave me the creeps and I thought it was a good choice that the author did not make him too multidimensional.
The pacing of the book was right where it should be, and the prose was quite beautiful, I appreciated greatly the references of art and mythology It entwined with the story and was an important factor,
Overall, The Wood of Suicides is one that you want to curl up by the window and have a cup of tea or coffee! with, though keep in mind that it has something of a dark cloud over it.
We get to indulge in a fantasy many have had but also see the downsides of forbidden relationships, Laurel Marks loves her father but when he dies, she is left with how to move on, She begins classes at a boarding school and one day runs to the woods, upset, It is here she has a chance encounter with Hugh Steadman, her English teacher,
Mr. Steadman teaches Romantic Poetry and Laurel, in the throws of a schoolgirl crush, believes he is speaking straight to her, Their innocent looks and flirtation in class eventually turn into a heated affair, The two sneak around the school grounds and even spend a weekend in his home, while his wife is away, For Laurel, this is her epic poem come true, Soon, she becomes more withdrawn from Steadman as he longs to be closer, He files for divorce and talks about the life they will have together, Laurel feels suffocated and trapped and eventually cracks under the pressure of a fantasy that has become all too real,
We see the myth of Apollo and Daphne running throughout, Steadman pursues the young unattainable Laurel, However, like the mythical Daphne, Laurel keeps running further and further, not wanting to ever be caught and tied to Steadman forever.
In the end, Laurel is free from her lover and Steadman is forced to face the life he has created, wifeless and loverless.
Picking this book up, I kind of knew what I was getting myself into, Im no stranger to all teacherstudent romance tropestrust me Ive read quite a number, but this one was different in its own special, dark and eeriest of ways.
I love the writing and how the story between these two lovers whole rendezvous crash and burns in the end,
Yeah. Books like these, they leave a bittersweet aftertastebut thats the thrill of it, and thats what I like,
Laurel is ayear old girl mourning the loss of her father, She was very close to him and was always wanting his approval, After this tragedy, she is sent to a boarding school for girls, It is here that she becomes attached to her english teacher, Mr, Steadman.
After some time, the two begin a secret affair despite the fact that her teacher isyears older and married.
They both pursue and crave each other, but after a time, Laurel begins to slowly pull away, As we near the ending of the story, the reader is left guessing how this doomed relationship will play out,
The story is quite short, But the writing is hypnotic and flows poetically, However, the story is filled with so much melancholy, Laurel is a loner, depressed over the death of her dad and looking for love in a doomed relationship, When the story ends, I felt quite sad for all the characters involved,
Good read, just a bit dark, I received a complimentary ebook via Netgalley, Great book! Loved it. At first i thought this was going to be boring but i was so wrong, The main character is selfish and its really hard not to hate her, But as it progresses i actually began to understand her, The ending isnt surprising. I love this book its so intense and the anticipation of laurel before they even met i just totally understand her.
Love this book. When your obsession turns into a nightmare for you, it tears you up in the inside and that's really depressing as well as heartbreaking The Wood of Suicides by Laura Elizabeth Woollett is a sad, disheartening story of ayear old girl, who must find a way to go on with her life, after she figures out that the man she has fallen for, doesn't love her, instead uses her.
Thank you Laura Elizabeth Woollett for sharing with me a copy of your amazing novel for an honest review.
Laurel Marks, ayr old teenager, having obsession for older men, not to mention even had a thing for her own father, was sent to a boarding school by her mother, after her father's death.
In her boarding school, she soon gets obsessed with her handsome, English teacher, Huge Steadman, who's married with kids, But eventually her crush and flirtations turn into a fullfledged love affair, They started sneaking out in the school grounds, in his home, when his wife's away, But Steadman got more demanding of Laurel and on the other hand Laurel got withdrawn from their relationship, Finally Laurel plunges more into darkness, ultimately fell into the laps of depression, So finally she manages to free herself from her lover and Steadman ended up with nothing, no wife, no children, but this made her more torn up in the inside.
The narration of the protagonist is contemplative and disturbing you can feel her pain almost immediately, Laurel was actually facing some psychological issues, all she needed was love, but instead she was sexually used, this made her more depressed.
The author has written in such a way that almost after reading a few pages of the book, we can see Laurel right through her, can peek into her soul.
The author has kept the narration interesting, not a chance of losing interest, Also she has made some welldeveloped characters for her plot with whom the readers can actually connect,
Finally, in a nutshell, if you love some teacherstudent fantasy, then definitely go for this one,
ed for the Library Thing Early er
sitelink librarything. com/work/
A young woman sets her desires on an older man and finds that her idea of love was more than she bargained for with him.
This modern, quasiYA story is long on prose and scant on reality, Laurel, a senior in an allgirls boarding school has recently lost her father, Her mother sends her away to fulfill her own needs, presumably with her best friend's husband, Laurel comes to lust after her English teacher, Hugh Steadman, a man who reminds her of her father, While Laura Elizabeth Woollett attempts to create a unique tale reminiscent of Apollo and Daphne or "Lolita", the cliches are too much to tolerate.
Laurel is an overly verbose and completely unbelievable teenager her vocabulary alone sets her on a different planet than mostyearolds.
The sexual relationship that is alluded to between Laurel and her father is ridiculous, He has trigeminal neuralgia, a painful, but not lifethreatening and treatable condition and mistakes his daughter for his wife, As for her teacher, Steadman, a man who falls for his uniformclad ingenue has been done to the hilt, Woollett would do better to focus her energies on creating a more believable, original story with accurate facts rather than rehashing her graduate English literature and psychology course work and ripping off some classic works.
Ok I guess I didn't really like the end, She was allways so depressed, . .
I agree with someone who wrote a review who all so won this book, Here is what the wrote,
This novel was not what I expected it to be, The troubled teenager is obsessed with older men and after her father dies, she seeks out the affections of a teacher,years older than she is.
Also, he is a husband and father, To make a long story short, they become involved in a sordid romance which amounts to nothing, I found this novel to be a sad, hopeless story not an enjoyable read,
I agree with them this is how I felt about this book, I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early ers,
Wow. I loved this book. Both Laurel and her teacher were really strange, but in a good way, Laurel was a very fascinating character, I also really loved the author's style of writing, Very poetic. This book also held my interest the entire time, I couldn't stop reading it, The story sort of reminded me of something a Lana Del Rey song would be about, Overall, it's a great book, I found the protagonist repellent,
Trying to seduce her father, contemptuous of her mother
Seducing her teacher, her Me Me Me self involvement and hypocrisy.
The creepy way she wants her gross old teacher to smoke the kinds of cigarettes her father did, Her disregard and callousness towards his wife and children, Her so called 'belief in the sanctity of marriage'
Her spinelessness breaking it off and instead making him a sex offender.
Her disgust
for women but, . she's a lesbian at the end
Her ridiculously flowery writing, Grandiosity at its most terrible,
Her shivers of disgust for people less attractive,
This bitch is nuts,
She thinks she is more intelligent than everyone yet she is so juvenile in her obsessions and unsaid ultimatums,
She is thoughtfully well written even though I hated her, .