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The Woman in the Wood

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The Woman in the Wood

By: Lesley Pearse
Narrated by: Rosie Jones
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About this listen

Fifteen-year-old Maisy Mitcham and her twin brother, Duncan, lose their mother to an insane asylum one night in 1960. The twins are sent to their grandmother's country house, Nightingales. Cold and distant, she leaves them to their own devices, to explore and to grow.

That is until the day Duncan doesn't come home from the woods. With their grandmother seeming to have little interest in her grandson's disappearance and the police soon giving up hope, it is left to Maisy to discover the truth. And she will start with Grace Deville. A woman who lives alone in the wood, about whom rumours abound...

©2017 Lesley Pearse (P)2017 Penguin Audio 20th Century Crime Thrillers Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance Thriller & Suspense Thriller Crime
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An excellent story well narrated. Very hard to put the book down. Would highly recommend it

Great book

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another brilliant story filled with all matters of twists and turns to make you keep listening till the very end

Drama

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was so good engrossing story line well read will read more of the author GREAT

was great loved it

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Absolutely loved the tale! I was laughing out loud, crying and even ranting with the characters!

I was a captive audience until the end!

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An excellent story. Not just the usual but something different. Would recommend. Great reader. Will try more from this author.

Excellent story

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Anther page turner from the pen of Lesley Pearce. At times horrific, this story depicts the uglier side of life and all its depravity.

Tragic events that lead to love.

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If you like a gripping horror story with a truly awful villain, you will enjoy this book. Lesley Pearce has written a compelling novel with an interesting assembly of characters. While none of these are totally convincing, there is an undeniable quality of realism running through the novel that helps to transcend the sometimes gainly plot. The author, and probably the publisher, have conciously chosen to dwell on the taboo, selecting a number of themes such as peodophilia and survivor guilt as a means to pique the jaded interests of their readership. There is a sense of moral outrage that undergirding this novel and it is a compelling element of the narrative. There also seems to be a deliberate attempt to shine a light on the unspoken realities of victims of peodophilia and child slavery. This almost seems like attending a lecture at times. There are a few plot holes and some scenes are so unrealistic that they detract from the story. in particular, the way the boy bounces back from his awful experiences and is almost immediately chipper and articulate is hard to accept and seems like the heavy hand of an editor has been allowed to hack away at parts of the text that dwelled upon the child's recovery. perhaps the novel should have ended when the police arrived at the shack and found it 'empty'. instead we have a contracted attempt at resolution which is very middle-of-the-road and not handled as adroitly as the rest of the novel. However these criticisms are more directed at the heavy hand on the editorial tiller, which was not as deft as it should have been, and not at the story or the quality of writing itself. I have to admit that the characters were hard to forget and that the story was hard to forget. There were times when the story was impossible to put down. And of course the narration, by Rosie Jones, was perfect, blemish-free and really strengthened the weaker points in the story. Overall I would definately recommend this book if you are into this genre of writing.

A Baby Boomer Orientated, Gothic-Inspired Horror

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after struggling through the first few chapters i wondered if i had made a mistake and purchased a young adult genre book. it had so many good reviews but i just couldn't struggle through any longer. maybe it gets better further on but i won't be finding that out. worded in a very young simplistic style.

writing was way too simplistic

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This book was certainly filled with tension but credibility threads broke repeatedly whilst the tension was at its greatest. Beyond Belief. I'm one who is prepared always to let imagination take over, but this was too much for my free and easy acceptance of solutions when all that is left is failure and despair. Convenient solutions that are not only unbelievable but absolutely impossible are too much.

Credibility Stretched Too Far

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.