Failed father, failed husband, and failed scholar, Charles hopes to put his life back together with a biography of Caedmon Hollow, the long-dead author of a legendary Victorian children's book, In the Night Wood. But soon after settling into Hollow's remote Yorkshire home, Charles learns that the past isn't dead. In the neighboring village, Charles meets a woman he might have loved, a child who could have been his own lost daughter, and the ghost of a self he thought he'd put behind him. And in the primeval forest surrounding Caedmon Hollow's ancestral home, an ancient power is stirring. The horned figure of a long-forgotten king haunts Charles Hayden's dreams. And every morning the fringe of darkling trees presses closer. Soon enough, Charles will venture into the night wood. Soon enough he'll learn that the darkness under the trees is but a shadow of the darkness that waits inside us all.
My Review:
Rating: 4/5 stars.
I am reviewing this book after receiving a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review. When I started reading In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey I knew that it wouldn't be like any I usually read. The whole way through I wanted to read on and see how this book would end. The whole book was surrounded by grief of a child and the break up of a marriage. I wanted to help Charles and Erin but nothing could help them. As for all the missing children and the Horned King, I'm still not sure if it were real. The past suggested so. Everything points towards it. I loved how it has that british dark fairy tale vibe. I shared the denial of the narrator, Charles, disbelieving that any of it could be real. Overall, it was a very good book. You can feel all the emotions and everything feels real.