Ann Holmes seems an unlikely candidate for revelation. A sixteen-year-old runaway, she is an itinerant mushroom picker who lives in a tent. Her past has been hardscrabble. Then one November afternoon, in the foggy woods of North Fork, Washington, the Virgin comes to her, clear as day. Is this delusion, a product of her occasional drug use, or a true calling to God? Gradually word spreads, and thousands converge upon the already troubled town. For Tom Cross, an embittered logger who's been out of work since his son was paralyzed in a terrible accident, the possibility that Ann's visions are real offers a last chance for him and his son. As Father Collins searches both his own soul and Ann's; as Carolyn struggles with her less than admirable intentions; as Tom alternates between despair and hope; Our Lady Of The Forest combines suspense, grit and humour in a story of faith at a contemporary crossroad.
Our Lady of the Forest
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‘One of the most exciting and thoughtful novels I’ve read this year … a wonderful novel’ -- Daily Mail
About the Author
David Guterson is the author of the novel Snow Falling on Cedars; a collection of short stories, The Country Ahead Of Us, The Country Behind, and of the non-fiction book Family Matters: Why Home Schooling Makes Sense. Snow Falling On Cedars won the PEN/ Faulkner Award. David Guterson lives in Washington State.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By J. Hackney
Format:Hardcover
Far and away the most enjoyable and engaging element David Guterson books is how evocatively he describes the local flora and landscapes. The story itself is powerful but I felt it cut off too suddenly, or worked up too fast, as if he didn't quite know where he was going with it, or didnt trust his material to last. Would maybe have been better as a short story, is certainly vivid enough.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a difficult book to write about as I imagine many people will have varied ideas about it's content. A young, frail and damaged runaway girl Ann Holmes fetches up in the depressed previously busy logging area of North Fork and makes a little way of life for herself, alongside others, living on the Camp ground, scavenging for mushrooms, ranging the devastated forests. She becomes friends with bright and breezy, sassy Carolyn who takes her under her wing. Other inhabitants of this woebegone town are Tom Cross, the one time logger, now a prison guard nearby, now separated from his family which includes his son who is paralysed after an accident out in the woods, and more importantly Father Collins, the unlikely priest who also lives in a trailer. He is highly educated, thoughtful and tortured with the difficulties of his calling.
Written in a fast and jumpy fashion with quick wit and repartee this book is formed around the visions experienced by Ann in her fevered, ill and dangerous state. Whether you take her seriously or dismiss the visions immediately the story carries you along with the mounting excitement and hope that her mission gathers up. The desperate need for others to help her carry out the instructions of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the driving force that grabs the community and changes life in that place forever. Father Collins keeps a cool head and manfully stands up to the Grand Inquisitor type older priest who arrives to check her out.
Unusual in content with a great deal of the Catholic faith and creed acted out for the reader this is a heavier weight read. Personally I ground through it rather although the end was very clever indeed and made the struggle through worthwhile.
Written in a fast and jumpy fashion with quick wit and repartee this book is formed around the visions experienced by Ann in her fevered, ill and dangerous state. Whether you take her seriously or dismiss the visions immediately the story carries you along with the mounting excitement and hope that her mission gathers up. The desperate need for others to help her carry out the instructions of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the driving force that grabs the community and changes life in that place forever. Father Collins keeps a cool head and manfully stands up to the Grand Inquisitor type older priest who arrives to check her out.
Unusual in content with a great deal of the Catholic faith and creed acted out for the reader this is a heavier weight read. Personally I ground through it rather although the end was very clever indeed and made the struggle through worthwhile.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is an interesting book dealing with the old themes of sin and redemption. It succeeds mainly due to the vulnerability of the central character, Anne Holmes. She has the mystical visions that draw an array of unsavoury characters into her orbit, and the reader is kept interested in the outcome. Shorter than his other books, Guterson writes with an urgency that keeps the pages turning, and does not avoid the difficult subject matter.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Synopsis from rear cover
Ann Holmes seems an unlikely candidate for revelation. She is a sixteen-year-old runaway, who hangs around North Fork picking mushrooms and living in a tent. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2010 by Mary_10
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully engaging
Evocative, tense, moody, intriguing. Not by any means a feel good novel. Great stuff if you can handle that sort of thing.
Published on 7 Sep 2009 by Jim Voorhout
2.0 out of 5 stars
Expected better
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed East of the Mountains, I was looking forward to this book very much. Read more
Published on 28 May 2009 by MrDmented
1.0 out of 5 stars
Promising story, almost unreadable book
I haven't read any of Guterson's other novels, but this story seemed interesting. I thought I would like the book. How wrong I was. Read more
Published on 7 Aug 2008 by NoWireHangers
3.0 out of 5 stars
Running on empty near the end.
I can remember enjoying this book up to about the halfway point, after which it became a struggle. The characters are developed well, but I did not find myself having much of an... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2007 by Mike Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars
When questions provide answers
David Guterson is a man who rather asks questions than give the answers. In his third novel to-date, Our Lady of the Forest, he asks you to believe or not to believe. Read more
Published on 16 May 2004
1.0 out of 5 stars
big title, small ideas
This book reads as a collection of character essays which fail to connect to a sense of narrative thread. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2004 by sebastian a j smith
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your money
A disappointing read - unconvincing and humourless
Published on 12 Dec 2003 by "tjr2"
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