The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan is a psychological horror novel that follows writer Sarah Crowe as she moves to a small town in Rhode Island and gets entangled in eerie events surrounding an ancient red oak. The story unfolds through Sarah's journal, blending personal traumas with mysterious occurrences, creating a sense of psychological horror. Kiernan's writing style incorporates elements of Lovecraftian horror, with an unreliable narrator and a focus on the psychological aspects of fear and dread.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include depictions of mental illness, suicide, explicit content, and themes of grief and loss.
Has Romance?
While the focus is primarily on the horror elements, there is a medium level of romance as it deals with the protagonist's past relationship and the significance of her sexual identity.
From The Publisher:
Sarah Crowe left Atlanta-and the remnants of a tumultuous relationship-to live in an old house in rural Rhode Island. Within its walls she discovers an unfinished manuscript written by the house's former tenant-an anthropologist obsessed with the ancient oak growing on a desolate corner of the property.
Tied to local legends of supernatural magic, as well as documented accidents and murders, the gnarled tree takes root in Sarah's imagination, prompting her to write her own account of its unsavory history.
And as the oak continues to possess her dreams and nearly almost all her waking thoughts, Sarah risks her health and her sanity to unearth a revelation planted centuries ago…
Ratings (5)
Incredible (1) | |
Loved It (4) |
Reader Stats (16):
Read It (5) | |
Want To Read (9) | |
Not Interested (2) |
1 comment(s)
This amazing, creepy, densely atmospheric book works on so many levels for me. I love books that are about reading and writing, and whether either of those activities is dangerous or imparts responsibility. The more Sarah writes in her journal, the worse her situation gets, and she (and the reader) can't help wondering if one is feeding the other (but in what way? and in which direction?). The book is an ouroborous, endlessly looping back on itself with repeating images: the woman writer, the woman painter, the lost or hidden woman, locked doors, strange and narrow doors, the cycle of the seasons. Each of these things arises again and again in slightly different ways, and it is spooky as hell.
The book is also a maze of references to other writers and books - and Kiernan relies on those references as part of her meditation on reading and writing. Every book or author that the text brings to mind (Poe, Lovecraft, Henry James, etc) is mentioned in the text. At one point, Sarah and Constance discuss books about getting lost in order to discuss, without actually mentioning, their experience getting lost on the way to the red tree. Talking about the experience directly is too terrifying, so they skirt around it by talking about books about similar experiences.
Gah. Go read it right now, and prepare to have your mind blown.
What can you read after
The Red Tree?
About the Author:
Caitlin R. Kiernan is the author of nine novels, including Silk, Threshold, Low Red Moon, Murder of Angels, Daughter of Hounds, and The Red Tree. Her award-winning short fiction has been collected in six volumes, including Tales of Pain and…
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