Reviewed by Carly Kendall for Readers' Favorite

The two children who witnessed their mother’s death were sent to live with their aunt. The trauma left them emotionally scared. Their Aunt Luce lived in an isolated cabin deep in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

I have never read a Charles Frazier book before. Nightwoods sounded like quite a departure from what I usually read; but the story sounded very intriguing, and the author’s previous books have been given high acclaim. Now, this book did start a little slow, and there were some points where I was just about ready to throw in the towel, but the writing was so good I just insisted on moving ahead. I’m glad I did, too, because this story did eventually pick up the pace, and I found myself immersed in this story.

The setting was definitely a big plus for this story. Charles did a terrific job setting the scene for the reader. Appalachian landscape was the perfect backdrop for this dark and emotional story. I think that was one of things that also kept me engaged in this story when it felt like it really wasn’t moving fast enough.

Nightwoods, after getting off to a slow start, ended on a high note for me. Sometimes a book can really surprise me when I feel like it is going nowhere only to end up being quite book by the end. I wish I could have liked it better from the beginning, but the book redeemed itself quite nicely. Even though it is not what I typically read, I think Charles Frazier is an author that I am interested in enough to possibly continue to read his work.