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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 Crime Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Police Procedural Psychological Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Scary Fiction Mystery Exciting Suspense

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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 is a binger, very hard to put down. The narrator is superb, one of the very best performances I have heard. The story is enthralling, gripping until the end. If you love Donna Tartt you may enjoy Tana French

Enthralling

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Another incredibly well written piece from Tana French. Different from the Dublin Murder Squad, but equally compelling. I had no idea where this was going to play out right to the last half hour. The uncertain view from the protagonist’s head carries you with him in his swings between hope, anxiety and confusion, not to mention in doubt about who to trust. Narrator excellent.

Tour de force

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The intense focus on the accumulations of detail shares something with Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’; you see and feel the unstoppable deluge of events along with the narrator. Paul Nugent gives a totally brilliant reading. His vocal characterisations are so vivid I could practically draw pictures of the people in the story!

Excellent and absorbing

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Loved the book until the last couple of chapters then I hated it 😑
Felt like a total cop out as if the author didn’t know how to close the story
The narrator is excellent and probably saved it

Awful ending, no resolution

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I loved this book about how complex memory is.
The narrator's voice is very easy to listen to and qickly became a friend.

great book

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