In need of a good thriller that transports you from NYC to the deep woods of the Adirondacks? Well then, Barnard Alum Liz Moore’s new novel God of the Woods is for you!

God of the Woods, a new novel by Liz Moore (BC ’05), is a thrilling drama that takes on the family secrets of the extremely wealthy Van Laar family and the blue-collar community that lives and works in their shadows. The novel opens up with Barbara Van Laar, the teenage daughter of the family, gone missing from her summer camp bunk bed. Yet upon deeper examination, it seems like there is a lot more going on below the surface aside from Barbara’s disappearance.

God of the Woods is Liz Moore’s fifth novel. Moore graduated from Barnard in 2005 and has an MFA in fiction from Hunter College. Her writing has been awarded with several accolades, from being awarded the University of Pennsylvania’s ArtsEdge residency in 2009 her fourth novel, Long Bright River, being one of Obama’s favorite books of 2020. God of the Woods has won instant acclaim since its publication in July. The novel became an instant New York Times bestseller and has already been optioned for adaptation by Sony Pictures Television. Currently, Moore lives in Philadelphia and is the director of the MFA Creative Writing program at Temple University. 

God of the Woods is a fast-paced novel that is told through a multitude of perspectives, from Louise Donnadieu, Barbara’s camp counselor who is struggling to protect her brother from their alcoholic mother, to Jacob Sluiter, a serial killer on the run who is hiding in the deep woods of the expansive Van Laar property. These two characters are just a few in the multitude of the rich cast of those impacted by the disappearance of Barbara. 

However, Barbara is not the only Van Laar child who has gone missing. 15 years ago, the Van Laar heir, Bear, went missing after an afternoon hike with his grandfather. Bear’s disappearance rocked the family, especially his mother Alice, who cannot seem to move past the loss of her son, as her husband Peter’s harsh expectations force his wife to mourn in the shadows. 

Yet the shadows of loss and crime are clouded by the decades of family secrecy that the Van Laars have sought to hide on their beloved property, The Preserve. The Preserve’s expansive forest that sits upon Lake Joan is not only home to the wealthy family but a sleepaway camp, Camp Emerson, where the darkness of the Van Laar family appears to seep through into the campers’ cabins. 

God of the Woods is not only a mystery but a novel that forces the reader to contemplate the dangers of extreme wealth.

Image via Author