"The Dark Between the Trees" Book Review

Written by Tony Jones

Published by Solaris

Written by Fiona Barnett
2022, 352 pages, Fiction
Released on 13th October 2022

Review:

In horror novels, nothing good ever comes of going into the woods, and Fiona Barnett’s The Dark Between the Trees striking debut just goes to show that with this particular trope, nothing ever changes. After a first glance and scan of the blurb, a few readers might very well stick their nose up at this novel, as the plot sounds derivative of many other ‘creature in the woods’ plot lines, however, it puts a very clever and ultimately fresh spin on one of our favourite horror storylines. Even if the pace is slow (probably too slow for those looking for a traditional monster novel), it is deliberately so and I found myself sucked into the uneasiness and surreal nature of the unfolding split narratives.

The blurb sells The Dark Between the Trees as a “...surrealist gothic folk-thriller for fans of The Ritual and The Descent” (I’m thinking of the film, rather than the magnificent Jeff Long novel). Blurbs often overegg novels, but this is relatively accurate. It is similar to The Descent in that one of the two story strands features only women and in comparison with Adam Nevill's The Ritual, the group gets lost in a forest and is stalked by a creature. Beyond that, the similarities are rather superficial and it is the differences which make The Dark Between the Trees an impressive novel; this is much more than a creature in the woods novel in which the beast is almost sidelined as events get progressively stranger.

In The Ritual, we wait quite a while for the creature to finally appear, however, this is small nothing compared to The Dark Between the Trees, but this never becomes problematic, as the interaction between the characters is much too good to hinder the story. So, if you are after a slasher/creature in the woods kind of read, then look elsewhere, this is much more thoughtful and heads away from genre towards literary fiction. Considering the majority of the novel is set in a forest, another interesting deviation from The Ritual, is the fact Fiona Barnett does not dwell on overlong or detailed descriptions of the locality, trees and shrubs, but still manages to develop both atmosphere and a strange sense of otherworldliness and isolation.

The dual narratives set in 1643 and present day is a real strength and I loved the way where in certain places they mirror each other, but deviate in other clever instances, with their vastly different personal circumstances but both unable to change fate and the overbearing power of the forest. The soldiers of 1643 are all God-fearing men, which leads to particular clashes, whilst the women in the present-day narrative believe in science, archaeology and logic, but find themselves at odds in having to accept the impossible. By way of a taster, on their first night they camp in a clearing with a huge tree, but in the morning the tree is gone. How do they explain this rationally, or irrationally for that matter? How can they return to their university funding boards and reveal this astonishing fact? The arguments, conversations and sheer incredulity of five intelligent women make riveting reading and is in stark contrast to the soldiers of 1643, who are much more open to accepting the supernatural.

Even though Fiona Barnett chooses to avoid heavy descriptions of Moresby Wood, this does not make this Northern England location any the less intriguing and I was quickly reaching for Google to see if such a place existed, but I will let you check yourself should you wish to find out more. Straight from the outset the forest, which is fenced off with barbed wire, radiates a dangerous vibe which clashes with the jovial mood of the women who are attempting to follow in the footsteps of the group of soldiers (told in the other narrative) who disappeared in 1643 and even uncover their bones. I found myself quickly equally tuned into both time periods and as the technology strangely fails in the modern narrative, the women are more vulnerable than their 1643 counterparts, who at least are armed and seasoned fighting men.

Dr Alice Christopher, a historian who has devoted her entire academic career to uncovering the secrets of Moresby Wood, leads the party. Through her we realise that the area is knee-deep in folktales and myths which the book cleverly explores, some of which predate the ill-fated 1643 expedition into the forest. Armed with metal detectors, GPS units, mobile phones and the most recent map of the area (which is nearly fifty years old), her group enters the wood ready for anything, but soon find themselves quickly out of their depth and clashing about what to do next and they begin to dream of the nice cosy university library they left behind. These are not adventurer Indiana Jones types, with the narrative concentrating on a couple of the women.

By contrast, the 1643 group is significantly bigger and so there is more opportunity for death, savagery and the creature making a slightly more visible and frequent appearance. Veterans of the English Civil War, most of which had not seen their families for a long time, are a sympathetic bunch, with the plot following a slightly more traditional horror story arc. The manner in which the stories converged is wild stuff, even if not all questions were answered, it is creative and unpredictable.

The Dark Between the Trees has much to offer and the title gives a minor clue in what to expect, with ‘between’ the key word. Whilst the characters have their own motives, and there are many of them, the narratives are impressively distinct and once the reader realises this is significantly more than a monster novel, it gets more enjoyable. The sense of hopelessness and dread is skilfully heightened as we realise maps and technology are useless in the vividly drawn Moresby Wood.

Grades:

Overall: 4.5 Star Rating Cover
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Tony Jones
Staff Reviewer
Such is Tony’s love of books, he has spent well over twenty years working as a school librarian where he is paid to talk to kids about horror. He is a Scotsman in exile who has lived in London for over two decades and credits discovering SE Hinton and Robert Cormier as a 13-year-old for his huge appetite for books. Tony previously spent five years writing The Greatest Scrum That Ever Was, a history book very few people bought. In the past he has written for Horror Novel Reviews and is a regular contributor to The Ginger Nuts of Horror website, often specialising in YA horror.
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