Cwhat you have to do if you get lost in the woods. It is the first rule that the kids who stay in the summer at Camp Emerson, in the Adirondack National Park (New York state), owned by the wealthy Van Laar family, must know. But it is Barbara, their daughter, who disappears, and it had already happened with the eldest, Bear. Why, we only find out at the end of The god of the woodsfifth novel by 41-year-old American Liz Moore. But the mystery is only one of the elements of a complex book.
The god of the woods by Liz Moore
What did you want to write with The God of the Woods: a thriller, a family saga, an ecological novel?
My previous books were never considered thrillers, unlike this one, and yet, they also had an element of mystery, whether it was a family identity, or a paternity story, or something else. I think it was classified that way because I included a female investigator. But, in addition to the mystery, it is important for me to take care of the characterization of the characters, the environment, the language.
Knowing how to survive in the wild nature and tame it is in the DNA of pioneers. How much of this spirit remains in America today?
In the book there are various references to the culture of the transcendentalists, which gave great importance to man’s relationship with nature. One was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who gives his name to the summer camp and the Van Laar house: “Self-confidence”, the title of one of his essays. I also wanted to deal with this theme, problematizing it: there are those who, like the children hosted in the camp, experience the challenge of surviving in the woods as “a game for the rich”, while people with few resources are forced to learn about nature out of necessity. And I set the novel in the 60s and 70s so that the protagonists, both wealthy and otherwise, would remember the creation of the Adirondack Park in 1892. And the different impact it had on the lumberjacks employed in the lumber industry, who remained suddenly without work, and on the wealthy who wanted to protect what became for them a “natural playground”.
Liz Moore, 41, is also a musician and teaches creative writing at the University of Philadelphia. From NN Publisher “The skies of Philadelphia”, “The invisible world”, “The weight” have already been released. (Press Office)
At the center of the book there is a disappearance. As in his The skies of Philadelphia And The invisible world.
A disappearance sets the plot in motion, gives the characters the opportunity to explain the reasons why that person was important to them, and therefore draw on their past, on their memories. In The God of the Woods, two of them disappear, even if initially I was only sure of Barbara’s exit from the scene. But when I really started writing, I realized that Barbara had a brother who would also disappear.
Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
All the books I’ve written so far are set in places that I have some form of personal experience of. In the case of The God of the Woods everything begins with the Adirondacks: my ancestors moved there at the beginning of the 19th century, my grandparents returned there and built a cabin where I spent my summers as a child and which I still frequent. From here I start with historical research and also draw on parallel stories to find interesting ideas. To bring the characters to life I ask myself what is the first problem they have to solve. Then, to find out what will happen, I start writing.
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, NN Publisher540 pages, €22
The novel is moved by women. Even if the males are in charge. Is it a feminist book?
My novels are feminist, and I am a feminist in that I believe that prejudice against women is inextricably linked to prejudice against the working class or the poorest. Patriarchy essentially consists of taking away power from those who threaten patriarchy itself, whether they do so economically, by questioning the traditional role of women, or in any other way. I would like to say that things are very different today compared to the 70s, but unfortunately both in the US and in Italy women are still fighting the same battles.
In the book the family is also under discussion: can it be a dangerous place?
Without betraying the content of the novel, I think that terrible families always exist. Families that from the outside seem respectable, have great economic resources and yet treat their children very badly. Barbara could still experience the experience she has today.
No The god of the woods did you add any autobiographical elements?
Like Tracy, who went to summer camp for the first time at age twelve, I found myself fitting into a similar environment, where everyone had already formed bonds for years. Feeling marginalized. I didn’t like being there, but I loved reading, listening to music, I had already started writing.
Who or what is the god of the woods?
The reference is to the Greek god Pan, because it is he who gives name to the panic in the woods, the bewilderment that seizes those who lose their orientation because all the trees seem the same. Various characters in the book deal with this sensation, including the Van Laars, who feel they are the masters of the situation, and the approaching serial killer, who symbolizes the uncontrolled force of nature. Ultimately at the center of the book is the forest, as a place that generates fear but also offers protection.
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