Nightwoods

It has been a very long time since I read Cold Mountain but remember Frazier's prose, the way that natural world played its role in his story. And, I remember having a pretty knock down drag out argument over the ending.

I think the ending of Nightwoods is a little more definitive but Frazier isn't one for making it completely clear. What he does do well is spin a tale full of suspense and fear and past violence coming full force into the presence. He reveals details on his own timeline, just at the moment when they will, he knows, hit you the hardest, wrapped up as you are in the story.

Luce lives as a hermit in the old Lodge on the lake, seemingly contented with the "reimbursements" she receives for her life of solitude. These are show more mostly a deep connection with and gratitude towards the natural world. But she opens that solitary life to her niece and nephew after her sister dies. The children have been deeply wounded but Luce, with her patience and lack of expectations, works with them gently. Eventually, the world finds them and Frazier's tale spins fast and sometimes shockingly towards its end.

A five star read if there ever was one.

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‘’And that’s why we look back on that time so fondly from the dimmer years to come. Remembering the days when we were like Greek gods. Mighty and idiotic.’’

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier remains one of my most memorable and beloved reads after tons and tons of books. For me, this novel is the measure by which I rate every book set during the Civil War. Unlike a popular tearjerker melodrama full of spoiled characters, Cold Mountain won me over with its poetic language and gritty reality. I’m pleased to say that Nightwoods is another beautiful example of Frazier’s talent.

The story is set in the 1950s, a time of change and transformation for the society in the USA. In North Carolina, in the haunting, mystical, rough show more Appalachian, Luce lives alone in an old lodge whose owner has died. Her life changes-once again- when two children are handed over to her. A boy and a girl that can only be characterised as ‘’eerie’’ but in truth, they have survived an unthinkable experience. Two men, Stubblefield and Bud, manage to make the once peaceful life of Luce even more turbulent.

This is all I can say about the plot because Frazier has created a story that is anything but simple. The premise may sound common, but the way the past and the present are intertwined affecting Luce’s life is so complex and the development of the story is brought about by unpredictable factors. The characters’ actions and past life are revealed layer by layer and the chapters often begin with new background information and revelations that leave you staring in shock. God knows how many times I sat up on my seat in the Tube to re-read what I had already read in disbelief….

Frazier’s writing is extremely powerful. In a story that is bleak and agonizing and full of cruel injustice done to those whom society considers as the weakest links (and of course, I’m talking about women and children) there are bright moments of beauty. The serenity of nature and seclusion. The little daily snippets that give life to the narrative. The description of the operators’ night shift.The beautiful Appalachian nature is a presence that influences the development of the characters and the plot. The passage where Frazier has Luce describing the changing of the seasons is one of the most beautiful paragraphs I’ve ever read. I could hear the crackling of the woodfire, I could smell the newborn flowers. I could feel the sultry summer evenings. I could see the changing pumpkins and the apples until the coming of winter when everything start again. I saw myself and my feelings as a teacher in two short passages that you will allow me to insert here:

‘’A teacher has six hours a day for nine months of one year. And thirty children to deal with at a time. You do your best and you expect the same from them. Then you pass them to the next grade and hope to do better with another bunch.’’
‘’First day of school every year, even now, I look out at those little faces, every one needing something from me, and I start feeling like I can’t breath thinking about the hundred and eight days ahead. I’ve learned to remember there will be good days and bad days. For me and for them. Many rivers to cross between fall and spring.’’

A good book doesn’t win you by plot and characters exclusively. It wins your heart when you can feel and see certain parts of yourself reflected in the process. This is what distinguishes the books that are just ‘’good’’ from the books that stay with you.

Frazier knows how to create characters to support his plan and attract the readers’ attention and sympathy. Or anger. In my opinion, the central characters are the two children whose eerie and dark, watchful eyes speak volumes. Luce is a fascinating heroine. Her fight to live her life according to her rules against the oppression of patriarchy, the bravery in front of hardship and malice, the honest way of facing everything and everyone. Stubblefield is an excellent counterpart. A man of the world, as brave as Luce and a little bit naive which makes him all the more realistic. Bud is not a cardboard villain. Far from it. Frazier gives voice to the man’s troubled thoughts as he tries to understand the terrible course his life has followed. He is one of those ‘’bad guys’’ whose chapters you anticipate with a mix of dread and excitement, struggling to understand the darkness. For me, the real ‘’bad guy’’ of the story was Luce’s mother, Lola. One of the most despicable characters you’ll ever come across. And, naturally, the men of the law, the ones who are supposed to protect society, once more demonstrate the certainty of having the mental capacity of an amoeba. At least, amoebas are useful in something…

Frazier’s talent is such that manages to turn an old radio playing jazz songs in the darkness into a character. Enough said…The way I see it, Nightwoods is a modern American classic…

‘’A cool November day, blue sky and sunlight thin and angling, even at noon. Leaves entirely off most trees, but still hanging tough and reddish brown on the oaks.’’

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Luce, a semi-reclusive North Carolina woman, inherited the twin children left behind after her sister’s murder. They don’t speak but can make a fire quicker than “tiny cavemen on Benzedrine.” Luce’s isolated life at Wolf Lodge, a decaying relic of a more prosperous past, lost its peacefulness and freedom, turning into days of endless watching to keep Delores and Frank amongst the living. Yes, they’re that wild! Frazier goes a little over-the-top with his depiction of traumatized children. If they were that disturbed, they shouldn’t have been left with their aunt who was a complete stranger to them.

The quiet life of an unlikely family trying to get along was disrupted by the arrival of Bud seeking what had been taken from show more him. Bud was Lily’s husband and is another character who is exaggerated as a person of utter vileness. If Lily was such a fine person, there must have been some goodness that she saw in him. Frazier doesn’t shy away from dark characters that make the more likeable people in Luce’s world shine brighter. There’s Maddie, a true hermit, who is always there for her distant neighbor and who can even make fried hog spine into company fare, and there’s young Stubblefield, who inherited the lodge along with 1,500 acres of pristine yet unprofitable land, when all he really wanted was to be part of Luce’s life.

Frazier is a masterful storyteller who has combined a potential love story with enough tension in the plot to keep those pages turning. Despite my quibbles with some of his characterizations, the story was satisfying; however, it was the lush prose that held me in its grip. This exquisite description of a fall evening at the lodge reminds me of why I love to read:

“Poplars were already half bare and long grasses dropped burnt from the first frost. The call of an evening bird, and the sun low. Bands of lavendar and slate clouds moving against a metallic sky, denoting the passage of autumn. The planet racking around again toward winter… Venus and the crescent moon and some other planet all stacked and falling through an indigo sky, the three spaced equally down a bowed path toward a jagged line of black ridges…”

Lyrical passages such as this one combined with the suspense of a quick-moving story make this a memorable addition to Frazier’s growing collection of novels that feature the beauty of nature integrated with the resilience of the human spirit show less

Nightwoods is a story that evokes emotion from the reader, both through the story itself and the authentic voice of the narrator. Luce is a woman who has been cast aside by society and by herself, left on the fringe. She comes to be the caretaker of her murdered sister’s twins and from here, the story evolves into an engrossing tale that hooks the reader and refuses to let them go until the very last page.

I would describe Luce as the type of person I would personally want to hang out with, if she were real, that is. As uncomfortable as she is in her own skin, she never once compromises herself and her values for those around her. Her voice is authentic and rings from page one. I felt myself identifying with her and her plight, keeping show more me entranced by the story as I desperately turned the pages to find out what happened next in her life.

Charles Frazier is a favorite author of mine, and this book does not disappoint. With a rich story and Frazier’s remarkable talents as a storyteller, the story is a can’t miss tale that takes you to Appalachia and surrounds you immediately with rich prose and an amazing story. And I loved trying the bacon with popcorn mentioned in the book. That alone is worth some praise. show less

[Nightwoods] begins with this scenario---a woman named Luce has taken in twins--a boy and a girl--who do not speak. Gradually we learn that their mother was Luce's sister, who met a tragic end at the hands of a man who also may have abused the children. It is unclear whether the children used language before witnessing their mother's murder, but they are certainly traumatized now, and Luce is guided by pure instinct in her efforts to protect them and give them a sense of security. Her lifestyle is unconventional, to say the least, but it suits her, and gives the children a freedom they seem to appreciate. Unfortunately, they have a great affinity for and fascination with fire. There's a Faulknerian feel to these kids which Frazier must show more have fully intended. I was reminded of Byron Snopes' half-Indian children in Faulkner's [The Town] the minute I met them. Those little demons didn't speak, and were not to be trusted with matches either. Frazier's children, however, are more fearful than fearsome, unless you're a rooster. This book has an incredible sense of place, vivid characters, a gripping story, plenty of suspense and a bit of romance. A couple reviewers have used the term "Appalachian gothic" to describe it; that diminishes its strengths, I think. show less

Frazier's novel of the intersection of several lives in mid-twentieth century Appalachia is gorgeously written on the sentence level. Every few pages or so I had to stop and reread a sentence to fully take in the lyricism or the just-so way he put something. The descriptions of place and of nature are also exquisitely well done. This is not a nice story, though, and we spend a good deal of time in the heads of and in the company of characters (one in particular) whose deep unpleasantness wore on me, and not in ways I found intriguing or compelling. I also felt held at a distance from some of the other characters--especially the twin children around whom much of the plot entwines--in a way that read a touch literary and unrealistic. This show more was, I think, very much a your-mileage-may-vary kind of read. There was so much here to like and admire, and readers a little less sensitive to awful characters may respond more favorably toward the whole novel than I did. show less

Charles Frazier is a dynamic writer. His sentences are beautifully crafted, conjuring up images that put the reader right into the story. His first book, Cold Mountain, was nothing short of phenomenal. When his second book, Thirteen Moons, was released several years ago, I began reading it with eagerness - only to stop midway, disappointed with the plot and characters. So, when Nightwoods became available, I wanted to give Frazier another try. People have sophomore slumps, and I was hoping that was the case for this talented writer.

Nightwoods is the story of Luce, a young woman whose personal life was marked by tragedy and bad family relationships. She agrees to become the caretaker of an old, abandoned lodge in the North Carolina show more mountains - a place where she can be alone and away from people who inevitably hurt her. Tragically, Luce's sister was murdered, and the state wants to place her sister's twins into Luce's care. When the twins arrive, Luce knows she has her work cut out for her. The twins, Dolores and Frank, won't say a word and have a liking to starting fires. Luce, once alone and carefree, must now accept her fate as a guardian of very troubled children.

Luce's situation is compounded when her sister's husband (and murderer) arrives in town, looking for money that he believes Luce is in possession of. Bud is a no-good, violent man, and Luce knows he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Frazier's superb writing style is in full force throughout Nightwoods. The reader gets a look at North Carolina mountain life - the good, bad and ugly. Unfortunately, I felt Frazier went to some extremes with his characters, especially the twins and their adventure during the last chapters of the book. As a fan of character-driven stories, this was a disappointment for me. But I am happy that Frazier seems to be on his game again, as Nightwoods is certainly a better story than Thirteen Moons.

So if you loved Cold Mountain like me, go ahead and get a copy of Nightwoods. Know it's not perfect - but sit back and lavish in the wonderful writing of Charles Frazier. show less