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The Wych Elm

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The Wych Elm

By: Tana French
Narrated by: Paul Nugent
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Wych Elm by Tara Elm, read by Paul Nugent.

For me it all goes back to that night, the dark corroded hinge between before and after, the slipped-in sheet of trick glass that tints everything on one side in its own murky colours and leaves everything on the other luminous and untouchable.

One night changes everything for Toby. A brutal attack leaves him traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at his uncle's rambling home, the Ivy House, filled with cherished memories of wild-strawberry summers and teenage parties with his cousins.

But not long after Toby's arrival, a discovery is made. A skull, tucked neatly inside the old wych elm in the garden.

As detectives begin to close in, Toby is forced to examine everything he thought he knew about his family, his past, and himself.

A spellbinding standalone from a literary writer who turns the crime genre inside out, The Wych Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, if we no longer know who we are.

©2018 Tana French (P)2018 Penguin Audio Genre Fiction Gothic Horror Literary Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Psychological Thriller & Suspense Scary Fiction Suspense

Critic Reviews

A truly great writer (Gillian Flynn)
The Wych Elm is her best novel yet (Erin Kelly)
My favourite novel of last year (Sophie Hannah)
All stars
Most relevant  
This thoroughly enjoyable listen proved every bit as entertaining and addictive to listen to as French’s Dublin Murder Squad series.

Another great read from Tana French

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The story was great, rally enjoyed it. However the voices the narrator put on were painful. Basically whenever people were talking, it was unpleasant to listen to due to both the put on accents and the presumed intonations of speech.

Great story, poor narrator

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I found this book really bleak and without any humour at all, which disappointed me as I was expecting to have the usual Tana French style, full of quirky humour. I also found the plot cumbersome and the story implausible.
To me there was not one major character that was likeable.
Although it was very well written and very well performed, I could not wait for it to finish.

Very well written and performed but...

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I agree with the other reviews (which I had not read before listening to this book). While the performance is good, I did not enjoy the story, for the same reasons as the other reviewers. And I, too, had enjoyed Tana French’s other books.

Sadly disappointing

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A deftly woven piece of crime literature. French is a wordsmith and a master of dialogue.

Nightmare in Elm.

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I have been waiting on this novel for ages. I love the Dublin Murder Squad series so I had high hopes for this.
This just did not meet my expectations and fell flat for me. I disliked the characters, except Hugo. Toby bothered me, he just grated on my nerves.
The storyline just didn’t grab or hold my attention.
The book ended depressingly too. All in all I just didn’t like it and would not recommend.

Disappointing

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I must admit for the first few chapters I was considering the thought of returning this book. However , I am so happy that I persisted because I became so engrossed in the intricately woven story that I felt part of the whole tapestry. A masterpiece of literature .

A Master Weaver

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Was gripped by it. It was ambitious of author to have such a long book all in the.main character's point of view but narrator kept me hooked. Lots of twist s and turns.

Tana French at her best

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Look, I love Tana French. This one though... the protagonist is less engaging, it feels very slow. It’s interesting in that things you normally like about her work don’t quite click here. All her other work I’ll listen to over and over. This one, no.

Not as great as her other work

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This book took too long to start and dragged on to an overly detailed finish.It needed cutting to half the length.

Too long!

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