If your book club enjoys a good mystery, how about a novel that offers two?! Set against the atmospheric backdrop of the Adirondack Mountains, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is a novel that twists and turns through the story of a search for two missing children. Barbara, the teenage daughter of the incredibly wealthy and influential Van Laar family, has gone missing while attending summer camp; the same woods in which, a decade earlier, her older brother Bear disappeared. Are there disappearances related? Was there foul play, or did they simply…. vanish into the woods? While the plot promises mystery and drama, this is no popcorn thriller. Spanning across three decades, seven unique perspectives, and nearly 500 pages, The God of the Woods could be considered a challenging book club read, but one that many will find worth the effort.
Through its characters and their relationships, The God of the Woods explores heavy themes. Chief among them is disparity between those of different social statuses, genders, and histories, and how individual choices can either perpetuate or upturn the status quo. Readers will encounter topics of violence, abuse of power, and mental health, but also of justice and redemption. These themes are explored in our book club questions for The God of the Woods. Continue the conversation using our The God of the Woods book club guide, which also contains a synopsis, select reviews, and suggestions for your next read.
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The God of the Woods Synopsis
(We always chose to provide the publisher synopsis because we feel that it’s worthwhile to discuss whether the official book description actually squared with your experience of the book.)
The God of the Woods, Liz Moore
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
10 Book Club Questions forThe God of the Woods
These questions have been tailored to this book’s specific reading experience, but if you want more ideas, we also have an article with 101 generic book club questions.
- How did the structure of the novel, with multiple perspectives and timelines, impact your reading experience? Which perspective and/or timeline were you most drawn to and why? Any that you didn’t enjoy?
- Amongst all of the campers, why do you think Barbara formed a friendship with Tracy? Why was Tracy’s perspective important to the story?
- “She listens to the voice of another man, making her another promise that won’t come true. How many times in her life has she said yes to a boy or a man just because it was the easiest thing to do? How many times has she let a man take what he wanted, instead of taking something for herself?”
Discuss how the author explores gender roles and the dynamics between men and women through the eyes of the novel’s female characters.
- While reading, what were your theories regarding the disappearance of Bear and Barbara? Were you surprised by the outcome?
- What was your perspective of Alice as a character, particularly her handling of grief, and did your view change as more of her story unfolded?
- Vic Hewitt is forced to decide whether to expose the Van Laars, or corroborate their story. Did you understand his decision? In his position, what would you have done?
- At the end of the novel, Judyta decides not to expose Barbara’s secret. Why do you think she made this decision?
- The synopsis of the book says The God of the Woods is a ‘story of inheritance and second chances’. Discuss how these ideas played out in the novel.
- “How quickly, I reflected, peril could be followed by beauty in the wilderness, each forming a part of the other.” – From Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille
How does the author’s choice of this epigraph relate to the novel and its themes?
- Imagine you are on your own Survival Trip. What skills would you contribute to the survival of the team? Are you a ‘god of the woods’ or are you more of a ‘glamper’?
Select Reviews for The God of the Woods
(Use these selected Goodreads reviews to compare with your own experience of the book. Do you agree or disagree with the reviews?)
“It’s a well constructed slow burner plot which speeds up after a while and has short, sharp chapters which increases the tension. The alternating timelines are seamlessly woven together, revealing a multitude of secrets, an accumulation of lies in order to cover them up, creating a suspenseful whole. There’s a range of complex characters who are well portrayed from the deeply unlikeable to the damaged and betrayed and some who are very likeable.”
“There were twists that left me reeling over how shockingly clever they were, and Liz Moore’s use of misdirection and carefully concealed clues were meticulously placed.”
“What starts out as compelling quickly turns meandering for me. The longer the story went on, the more unfocused it seemed. There are a lot of perspectives in here—I count seven—and every time something was about to happen, we immediately switched to a different perspective, effectively losing the momentum. And when we come back to the original one, the exciting scene had already happened off-page and it’s mostly glossed over.”
More Book Club Ideas
For more readalikes, we’ve got a whole list of books like The God of the Woods.
The following links go to a reading guide for that particular book. There’s a non-spoiler synopsis on the top of the article with a link to Amazon if you want to check pricing or reviews.
For another tale of missing children and the long-term consequences, have a look at All the Colors of the Dark.
For more messed-up family dynamics and keeping up appearances, but with less child endangerment, try Pineapple Street.
Or for multiple timelines, try Weyward, The Unmaking of June Farrow, The Lost Apothecary, or The Revisioners,
