The God of the Woods by Liz Moore Summary

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore follows the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar from her family's Adirondack summer camp in August 1975. Barbara isn't just any camper—she's the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the camp and employs most of the region's residents. The mystery deepens because Barbara's older brother similarly vanished fourteen years earlier, never to be found. The novel alternates between past and present timelines, unraveling the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow.

Liz Moore is an award-winning American novelist, screenwriter, and professor who directs the MFA program in Creative Writing at Temple University. Born in 1983, Moore has written five novels including the New York Times bestseller Long Bright River, which was adapted into a Peacock miniseries in 2025. She won the 2014 Rome Prize in Literature and has been featured on Barack Obama's favorite books list twice. Moore is known for blending literary fiction with thriller elements while tackling pressing social issues like addiction, class inequality, and family trauma with compassion and authenticity.

The God of the Woods is ideal for readers who enjoy literary thrillers with complex characters and multiple perspectives. Fans of Liz Moore's Long Bright River will appreciate her seamless genre-blending style. This book suits readers interested in family dynamics, class divisions, and generational secrets set against atmospheric historical backdrops. It's perfect for those who prefer character-driven mysteries with substance over fast-paced action. However, it's not a light read—the novel deals with two missing children and unsettling revelations, making it better suited for readers comfortable with darker, emotionally complex narratives.

The God of the Woods is absolutely worth reading, having won the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller. Critics call it Liz Moore's "most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet" and predict it will appear on all the best books of 2024 lists. The novel showcases Moore's masterful ability to blend genres seamlessly—it's part literary thriller, revealing character study, and examination of how power corrupts. With over a million copies sold across Moore's works and comparisons to her acclaimed Long Bright River, this novel delivers both compelling mystery and profound emotional depth.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore explores family secrets and lies as its central theme, examining how privilege and power corrupt across generations. The novel delves into class divisions between the wealthy Van Laar family and the blue-collar community they employ, highlighting economic inequality in rural America. Additional themes include generational guilt, the long-lasting impact of childhood trauma, and the concept of secrets and second chances. Moore handles these weighty topics with care and respect, creating a thought-provoking examination of how past disappearances haunt present-day lives and communities.

The God of the Woods is set in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York in August 1975. The primary location is Camp Emerson, a sleep-away summer camp owned by the Van Laar family, who also maintain an adjoining estate where they've lived for generations. The remote but opulent setting creates a moody, atmospheric backdrop for the mystery. The novel uses a nonlinear timeline, alternating between 1975 and flashbacks to fourteen years earlier when Barbara's brother disappeared, allowing readers to experience both the lush summer camp environment and the secrets buried in the Van Laar family's past.

The Van Laar family mystery centers on two missing children separated by fourteen years. In 1975, 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her family's summer camp, but this isn't the first tragedy—her older brother disappeared in 1961 and was never found. The Van Laars are a wealthy, powerful dynasty who own Camp Emerson and employ most of the region's residents, giving them significant influence over the investigation. As the search for Barbara unfolds, Liz Moore reveals the family's layered secrets, lies, and the ways their privilege has shaped both their lives and the surrounding community.

Both The God of the Woods and Long Bright River showcase Liz Moore's signature style of blending literary fiction with thriller elements while addressing social issues. Long Bright River focuses on the opioid crisis through two sisters in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, while The God of the Woods examines class inequality through missing children at an Adirondack camp. Both novels feature multiple perspectives, nonlinear timelines, and explore family trauma with compassion. Moore handles difficult subjects with care in both books, though The God of the Woods is described as her "most ambitious" work yet, with a broader scope spanning decades and more characters.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is a literary thriller because it combines suspenseful mystery plotting with literary fiction's character depth and prose quality. While the disappearance of Barbara Van Laar drives the narrative forward, Moore focuses equally on rich character development and exploring themes of class, privilege, and generational trauma. The novel features multiple perspectives, allowing readers to inhabit different characters' interior lives and understand their complex motivations. Moore's "masterful writing style" elevates the thriller genre by treating it as a vehicle for examining pressing social issues rather than just delivering plot twists.

Yes, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore employs multiple points of view to tell its story. The novel features a "kaleidoscope of perspectives" that form a richly layered puzzle of personalities and motives. Readers experience the narrative through various characters including members of the Van Laar family, camp staff like TJ Hewitt (the groundskeeper's daughter who oversees camp activities), and townspeople affected by Barbara's disappearance. This multi-threaded approach allows Liz Moore to reveal how different social classes and individuals experience the same events, while gradually uncovering each character's secrets and their profound wells of unimaginable pain.

Camp Emerson in The God of the Woods serves as more than just a setting—it's a microcosm of class divisions and power dynamics. The camp is owned by the wealthy Van Laar family while being staffed by working-class locals who depend on the Van Laars for employment, creating an inherent power imbalance. The remote Adirondack wilderness setting adds atmospheric tension and isolation that heightens the mystery of Barbara's disappearance. The camp also represents the intersection of "two worlds colliding"—the privileged summer experiences of wealthy children versus the year-round struggles of the blue-collar community. This setting allows Liz Moore to explore how privilege protects some while exposing others to vulnerability.

The God of the Woods remains relevant in 2025 because it addresses timeless themes of class inequality, family secrets, and the abuse of power that continue to resonate today. Liz Moore's examination of how wealthy families protect their interests while working-class communities suffer reflects ongoing conversations about economic disparity and privilege. The novel's exploration of how past traumas echo through generations speaks to contemporary discussions about inherited trauma and breaking family cycles. Additionally, Moore's compassionate approach to difficult subjects demonstrates the kind of nuanced storytelling readers increasingly seek, making The God of the Woods more than just a period mystery—it's a mirror reflecting persistent social issues.