Pine is billed as a literary gothic thriller, "carefully calibrated to make every single hair on the back of your neck stand up on end."
It was also the winner of the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, which is closer to what it delivers - this is a crime novel with a few supernatural elements, but unfortunately did not captivate me.
Ten year-old Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Socttish Highlands, in a small village surrounded by a forest. On Halloween night, the kids visit the three neighbour houses guising. On the way home the father and daughter are shocked to see a woman in a dirty dressing gown on the side of the road. They help her into the truck and take her to safety, but the next morning Naill remembers nothing, the woman gone. Lauren's mother disappeared many years ago, but they never talk about it. Niall drinks heavily, and doesn't like her asking questions too often. She is picked on at school, and finds her solace in the tarot cards and crystals her mother left behind - she was a free spirit, enjoying pagan gatherings and palm reading.
Soon, other friends begin seeing a woman wandering the woods or orchard, but quickly forgetting what they saw. Perfect circles appear randomly of rocks or burned out fires. The woman reappears. Interesting ideas which simmer as Lauren spends her time building a hut in the forest, reading her book of symbols, or staying over with friends.
This is a crime novel, so eventually we find out what happened to the mother, as another girl goes missing in the woods.
This debut novel creates an atmosphere of a unique place, but I did not find it engaging. Other reviews are either 5-star unforgettable, or 2-star disappointing. My feeling is a momentum was missing, it never really caught on. The spiritual aspects were there but I was only reminded at the end this was a crime novel, too much time was taken wandering the forest, or with characters who existed but didn't progress. Others enjoyed it - it was named a Best First Novel of 2020 by the Telegraph. However, I found nothing spooky, my hair was not raised, my marrow not sufficiently chilled, and the answer to the crime earthbound.
2020 / Tradeback / 325 pages
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