Nightwoods
by Charles Frazier (read by Will Patton)
Hodder and Stoughton (audiobook)
Nightwoods is the extraordinary third novel by Charles Frazier, best known for Cold Mountain, adapted into an Oscar-winning film by Anthony Minghella in 2003. Although they share similar settings (the Appalachian peaks of Frazier's home state, North Carolina), Nightwoods is more intimate in scale and cast. Set in the early 1960s, the plot shuttles among five main characters. At the centre is Luce, a determined loner who looks after a remote mountain lodge. Once a glamorous holiday resort, the place is deserted, save for Luce and young twins Frank and Dolores. This strange, beautiful and unsettling pair were bequeathed Luce after her sister, Lily, was murdered by her husband, Bud. Fired by a twisted, righteous fury, Bud kills, is arrested and released, before setting off to recover his children. Frazier fuses a contagious plot with terrifically subtle and atmospheric writing. However, the audiobook doesn't quite do justice to this novel. Will Patton reads as if he knows how good Nightwoods is: his accent is perfect, but he's too eager to bring out Frazier's gothic rhythms and sounds.
