In a Dark, Dark Wood
Ruth Ware, 2017
Mystery, thriller & crime Contemporary fictionLiterary fiction
In a relentless search for answers, a disgraced journalist finds herself trapped in a sprawling, isolated estate where reality feels fragile. A plain, uneasy voice carries a slow dread through an isolated house, with identity and home feeling increasingly fragile.
Feels like unease, dread and melancholy. About identity, home and solitude.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy crime fiction that values atmosphere and a narrator's uncertain grip over brisk procedure. The mood is heavy with dread and melancholy, and the fragile reality of the isolated estate can make for an uneasy, sometimes disorienting read.
Why read it
Pick it up for a tense, plain-spoken study of unease and identity, with the house itself a memorable presence pressing in on the characters.
A page from the book
When the light feels like a trap, the darkness is watching.
The night was drawing in, and the house felt more and more like a glass cage, blasting its light blindly out into the dusk, like a lantern in the dark. I imagined a thousand moths circling and shivering, drawn inexorably to its glow, only to perish against the cold inhospitable glass. Ruth Ware.While this novel was initially published as a standalone piece of fiction, Ruth Ware frequently cites the British landscape and specific architectural styles of the 1990s as key influences on her settings.
Books that feel like this
More by Ruth Ware
The Turn of the Key
Ruth Ware, 2019
A nanny takes a job in a smart house where the children are watched by cameras, and the past refuses to stay quiet.
The Woman in Cabin 10
Ruth Ware, 2016
A travel journalist on a luxury cruise sees a woman go overboard—but no one believes her, and no passenger is missing.
The It Girl
Ruth Ware, 2018
A journalist navigates a toxic literary community where perfect facades crumble into dark secrets. The fragile line between reality and fiction is always paper-thin.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is In a Dark, Dark Wood for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy crime fiction that values atmosphere and a narrator's uncertain grip over brisk procedure. The mood is heavy with dread and melancholy, and the fragile reality of the isolated estate can make for an uneasy, sometimes disorienting read.
- What is In a Dark, Dark Wood like?
- A plain, uneasy voice carries a slow dread through an isolated house, with identity and home feeling increasingly fragile. Feels like unease, dread and melancholy. About identity, home and solitude.
- What should I read after In a Dark, Dark Wood?
- If you liked In a Dark, Dark Wood, try A Flicker in the Dark (Stacy Willingham), Home Before Dark (Riley Sager) and Before I Go to Sleep (S.J. Watson).
A taste of the feed
To confront true darkness is to risk becoming part of what you fear.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, he does not become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
A Flicker in the Dark · Stacy Willingham
When a lie becomes a narrative, dismantling it requires a courage that defies history.
Every house has a story. Ours is a ghost story. It’s also a lie. And now that yet another person has died within these walls, it’s finally time to tell the truth.
Home Before Dark · Riley Sager
The particular dread of a long life that leaves nothing behind.
I cannot imagine how I will cope when I discover that my life is behind me, has already happened, and I have nothing to show for it. No treasure house of collection, no wealth of experience, no accumulated wisdom to pass on. What are we, if not an accumulation of our memories?
Before I Go to Sleep · S.J. Watson
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