In a Dark Wood [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Amanda Craig (Author), Donald Hill (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

Benedick Hunter is a man who has lost everything, but his life takes on a new direction when he finds a book of his mother's in which real people and their stories are strangely interwoven with traditional fairy tales. In 1965 Laura, an American illustrator of children's books, committed suicide after Benedick's father left her for another woman. Her son can remember nothing about her, but the fairy tales and their tantalizing illustrations convince him that in some ways his own life is echoing hers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Once upon a time, a 39-year-old unemployed actor, embroiled in a divorce from his cheating wife, drifting further from his two kids and falling deeper into depression, began unraveling the mystery of his mother, Laura, who committed suicide when he was only six. Thus Craig (A Vicious Circle) begins this dreamy, spellbinding novel, her first to be published in the U.S. Downtrodden Benedick Hunter yearns to find out why his mother, a successful writer and illustrator of children's fairy tales, killed herself. He becomes obsessed with her dark fables (think Sendak or Gorey), which always take place in the depths of the woods, "the deepest, darkest manifestations of the subconscious you could hope to find." Benedick delves into his own subconscious as he struggles to understand why he can hardly keep himself together. His longing to interview Laura's former friends and colleagues takes him from London to America, where he receives only conflicting accounts of the mad genius. To learn the truth, no matter how frightening, Benedick must find his long-lost relatives (who also live at the edge of a dark wood). With a sure hand, Craig brings chilling suspense and dark humor to a stylized study of the loss of childhood innocence, the complexities of creativity and the correlation between artistic genius and mental health all expertly cloaked in the symbols and metaphors of fairy tales. Agent, Emma Parry of Carlisle and Co. (Jan. 15) Forecast: Considering this country's ongoing fascination with mental illness, Craig should find as many readers here as in her native England. A Vicious Circle is being developed as a film by the director of Bridget Jones's Diary, and a blurb from National Book Award-winner Andrew Solomon should spark further interest.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

An intriguing idea is marred by poor execution in Craig's novel, which was a great success in England in 2000. Benedick Hunter is a thirtysomething unemployed actor whose failed marriage and manic depression lead to self-exploration through an analysis of his mother, who wrote and illustrated fairy tales and committed suicide when he was six. Benedick has no memory of her and only resentment toward his successful, womanizing father. In his quest to understand his mother, Benedick studies her fairy tales, interviews her friends, and travels to South Carolina to meet with her family. Although the story is engaging and maintains interest, its weaknesses overpower its strengths. Neither Benedick's mania nor his children are convincingly depicted (at one point, his small son says, "I can't wait to be a grown upeit's only grown-ups who are free"), and the book reads as if it were switching genres from realistic fiction to Gothic romance. For large suburban collections that can't get enough fiction and serve risk-taking readers. Cathleen A. Towey, Westbury Memorial P.L., NY

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Chivers Audio Books; Unabridged edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754006492
• ISBN-13: 978-0754006497
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,562,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darkness Prevails, April 3, 2002

By 

Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In a Dark Wood (Hardcover)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Year's Ten Best, May 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: In a Dark Wood (Hardcover)

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!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can I Read It Backwards?, July 20, 2002

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In a Dark Wood (Hardcover)

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.