𝙎𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙇𝙮𝙡𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙.

I devoured this before its release date, during a rough period in my life, and then had to set aside book reviewing as pressing demands took over. I intend to talk about The Pale Flesh of Wood, as it took my breath away. Yes, I will ramble on too. It is such a gorgeous and heart-breaking read about how deeply a daughter can love her father, wanting to prove her worth, even risking life and limb with performative toughness, simply for the desire to be the apple of her daddy’s eye. Lyla’s father Charles Hawkins wants her to be as strong as all the Hawkins men, as if he forgets she is a girl, his daughter. Charles, a WWII veteran, haunted by his time on the battlefield, has more wounds from his troubled relationship with his own, cold mother. One day he convinces Lyla to hang a swing with him in the family’s California oak tree, his mother’s pride, and joy. It has always been the center of the Hawkins’ Family, rooting through their personal history. Lyla may think her daddy hangs the moon and stars, but his wildness often endangers her. In his broken mind, he sways between joy and anguish, leaving her as a confused, scared witness. But that day, she succeeds, and the swing is complete, never imagining how that one act will become her cross to bear when her father hangs himself from that very tree, with that exact rope. But before that horror, other tragic accidents pile upon Louise, Charles, and little Lyla. PTSD certainly plays into his trauma, but there are questions about his time overseas and his service, whether he went AWOL, but Charles carried his torment prior to the horrors of war in a psychological battle that began in childhood. His mother puts all her might toward emasculating her son. Ever since he was a boy, she pushed him away emotionally and physically, unable to spare a moment of warmth. In adulthood she has zero empathy for the state he is in, pointing out his failure to return from the war functional and normal, she goes as far as to say how much of an embarrassment he was to his now dead father when Charles is simply trying to find a way to help Caroline move forward, pay her bills. It all leads to his suicide, and it is Lyla who carries the blame well into adulthood.

Advertisement

With her father gone, all the joy left, and what remains is her broken mother and bitter grandmother. They are suspended in time, no one more than her mother Louise, longing still for Charles, even after she is re-married. There is a tug of war between them now, a lot of pain, resentment, and need. They just don’t know how to love and reach each other. Lyla knows her mother is broken, and why, but the young are not adults, they are selfish in their needs and want their parents to be steady, stable, a soft place to fall. Louise is shattered by too much loss, and wishes time back, wishes she could just make things right and be the mother Lyla needs, but it is so hard to make life pretty through the fog of disaster.

As for Caroline, she is easy to hate but Charle’s last act, aimed at his mother, has taken the fire out of her. It is surprising that Lyla turns to her after a battle of wills with her own mother Louise. She learns things she didn’t know about her father and why Caroline was so hard on him. Right or wrong, people react to fear differently. When Lyla escapes to Chicago for college, she instead takes a turn in another direction meeting Hap and his sister. But I will not give away more than that. When Lyla finally returns to the family home, as Caroline is elderly and leaving Hawkins’ place to her, Lyla decides it is time to do something about the tree and move on, particularly after uncovering a bigger secret about her father during the war.

It is trauma as a theme, I think some people are perplexed by the villain of the story changing her ways, it is not that she does, it’s more her hardness, the way she moves through the world no longer serves her well. Damaged people is a type of terrorism that covers this family, no one knows how to move past their own fears and pain. The tree is the one who thrives, really, but the people are trying. The title is perfect.

Heartbreaking, tragic tale of one fractured, lost family.

Published February 11, 2025

She Writes Press

I’m realizing I’m a sucker for complex family dynamics. This does not fall short. You can feel the joy, the tension, the grief, the love…you can feel it to your bones. I, almost automatically, sided with Lyla as we watch her grow up through the years making sense of life. The remaining characters irked me in their own precious ways, irked being a welcome thing in this case. The whole thing flowed well and the unfolding felt appropriate for this story. I’m definitely recommending this! Trigger warning: suicide.

While historical fiction isn’t usually my top choice of genre, I was intrigued by this one’s description and setting. A Northern California native, I don’t always see this region represented in literature (outside of San Francisco, which often steals the show). This was described as being “set among the fault-prone landscape of Northern California.” It ended up being a little more adjacent to the Bay Area than I originally thought, but that’s on me for assuming I knew which fault-lines the description meant.

This is the story of Lyla and her family from the years following WWII into her adult life in the 1980s. The main premise is a triggering one as it tracks the presence of an enormous oak tree in her grandmother’s backyard upon which her father, Charles, takes his own life one November. It’s a story of grief and generational trauma, of the impact Charles’s loss has on Lyla, her mother, and her grandmother, and the feelings each of these family members has when staring down the centerpiece of their loss—the tree with the pale flesh of wood marking the branch where a rope hung.

I wanted to see how the family interacted throughout the years. I was invested in Lyla’s character. The snapshots of different moments, including the opening when she is encouraged, nearly bullied, by her father to climb the tree and hang the tire swing, were framed interestingly. I wanted to keep reading. However, I struggled with the non-linear timeline and had to keep flipping back to make sure I knew what year it was at the opening of each chapter. I also felt some emotional distance from the characters despite such delicate material. I’m not sure if that was my personal brain space or the writing itself.

The bottom line: This was a good family saga that I’d recommend to the right audience. Not perfectly my taste, but still worthwhile.

Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the DRC of this title. All thoughts are my genuine reading experience.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I'm thankful to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the ARC.

Elizabeth A. Tucker's The Pale Flesh of Wood is a beautifully written and deeply introspective novel that explores grief, trauma, and generational guilt through a nonlinear narrative. Right from the start, the book is steeped in sorrow, setting a tone that lingers throughout.

The writing style is captivating, with a structure that mirrors the chaotic emotions of its characters. I especially enjoyed Lyla’s perspective—her self-blame following her father’s suicide is a painful but well-crafted exploration of guilt. The novel doesn't just depict personal grief; it also weaves in the weight of generational trauma, making for a layered and emotionally rich reading experience.

The characters feel well-rounded, and while the pacing and narrative structure may not be for everyone, I found that they complemented the novel’s themes effectively. There’s a rawness to the emotions that makes this book stand out, and despite my mixed feelings at times, I found it compelling.

If you're looking for a thought-provoking, atmospheric read that delves into the complexities of loss and self-reckoning, this is a book worth sitting with.

This family drama is sad and gripping. It is a deft portrayal of the damaging effects a charismatic but damaged father has on his family. A gripping read.

It is an immersive, sprawling epic family saga, spanning generations. It plays strongly and evocatively with narrative forms — shifting from first person perspective to second, taking on generational trauma without flinching.

Disturbing content and lots of generational ; trauma. I Did like the conclusion. And the character development

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Pale Flesh of Wood by Elizabeth Tucker. Lyla is 10 years old when her father hangs himself from the oak tree in her grandmother’s yard. Her father was the “fun” parent, although she realizes as an adult that he suffered a lot from some rough experiences in WWII. A lot of the story is about how this impacted her teen and young adult years. She tries to get away from home, but ends up going back. I don’t think I am doing this justice, it was a good read. #thepalefleshofwood #elizabethtucker #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #bookstagram #lovetoread #readersofinstagram

I'm not totally sure how to feel about this book. In 1950s Northern California, ten-year-old Lyla--at her father's request--hangs a rope around a huge tree on her grandmother's property. Shortly thereafter, Lyla's father commits suicide using that same rope. The book jumps back and forth in time, going as far back as Lyla's father's childhood and as far forward as almost 30 years after her father's death.

I think this book does an exceptional job of depicting the aftermath of suicide and how each member of Lyla's family blames themselves and each other; seeks answers and explanations; and grieves in unique and non-linear ways. I felt like I really understood Lyla's confusion about her father's death and how complicated it made her relationship with her mother. But this book was very, very slow going for me. It was really hard for me to get into, and the timelines jumping around didn't work for me. Being "in the mind of the tree" was also just odd to me, and I wanted more insight into more of the characters. Overall, this was a bit of a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

Families are difficult, and life is trauma. That seems to be the overarching message here. The book centers on Lyla, and her relationships with her family. The book opens with Lyla being browbeaten/teased by her dad to climb the majestic old oak tree in the backyard of the family home, land owned by her grandmother, to hang a rope swing. Dad is a veteran with what we would now call PTSD. He drinks, he's reckless, and while Lyla idolizes him, I think she also sees him for the broken man he is.

His mother, the family matriarch, is another piece of work who can't let well enough alone and looks for ways to make people around her bend the knee. She is hard on everyone around her due to guilt over her role in past events. She softens up a bit toward Lyla in the end, which is kind of strange since the first part of the book is all about what a hard case she is to Lyla.

Her mother has had a litany of awful things befallen her. She has Been Through it, with zero empathy from her mother-in-law or, really, her daughter. S he takes it out on Lyla, but Lyla gives as good as she gets. That relationship is complex and complicated, for sure.

The book is split into three parts, generally centering on Lyla as she navigates her youth, her attempts to forge her way without her family, and then her return to the family bosom. There's trauma enough for everyone along the way.

I felt that there were gaps in the telling, unnecessary characters, and some plot devices that just don't work. Lyla seemed like she wouldn't see a red flag if you wrapped it around her head, so desperate she is to belong somewhere. The adults in this book were unlikable and while I generally like flawed characters, there's not much in the way of redemption here.

There is a LOT of generational trauma here, and getting through it was a slog. All in all, the book did not resonate with me.

Thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the advance copy.

This starts off with a bang and so my expectations were high and then dashed. It's long and the pace is too slow as well. It's too much of a hard slog to be enjoyable which is such as shame as the premise is good.
Others may love this and I may not be the target audience.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

3.75 ☆s

This is primarily a book around suicide, trauma and grief and the aftershocks these things have on people.

‘Lyla hated how those clouds could suddenly take over the look in her father's eyes like that’.

We follow Lyla’s story after her dad dies by suicide; from what it’s like to experience something like that as a child, to how it impacts her development and adulthood, dispersed with flashbacks to their past. Alongside this are the experiences of Lyla’s mum and grandmother. Lyla feels like his death is her fault. Her mum is stuck in the past and not coping well; she seems to Lyla to harbour some blame too. Lyla’s grandmother appears very stern and rigid; stuck in her ways. Everyone suffers differently but rarely together.

‘Logic has always told her if this were true- that if she was everything to her father- he would still be here today’.

The story moves through time and appears disjointed which I think reflects the chaos of their lives.

‘For now, they are knee-deep in muck’

I loved hearing from Lyla’s childhood voice, which felt so pure and innocent. I enjoyed the raw reflections of pain and suffering, and also the moments of insight and working through everything (though the story was not overly focused on this). My favourite parts were the metaphors (a tree, roots and growth) and moments of lyrical, beautiful writing, especially at the end. I could have appreciated more of these and I think my rating would have been higher if there had been more moments like those at the end.

‘Yet no matter how hard she yanked and repeated the refrain, knots remained inside her.’

This isn’t a happy story and sometimes it’s hard to rate those. If you go in expecting a book that is linear, full of positivity or deep exploration then you may be disappointed. I do think this is great for those who want an emotional, raw story exploring themes of mental health, suicide and grief; just not necessarily a happy one.

‘I am falling, she thought. And now, maybe, just maybe, she was finally free.’

Trigger warnings for; suicide (hanging), domestic violence, PTSD (war veteran), and infant loss.

While the concept of The Pale Flesh of Wood seems to embody the multigenerational dysfunctional family narrative I typically enjoy, I struggled to engage with this novel. I made three attempts, but unfortunately, none were successful for me to fall in love. The unique writing style was somewhat disorienting to me, and from the start, I couldn't connect with the father and daughter or grandmother. I wish this book much success! Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

DNF - The beginning of this book failed to pull me in, as it felt pretty scattered and not very compelling. The writing was just so-so, and some of the plot elements felt forced and a bit gimmicky. Other reviews echoed my feelings, and I just felt it wasn’t worth my time, but thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Young Lyla Hawkins adores her father, even when his actions confuse and even frustrate her. When he chooses to leave, Lyla spends many years alternately trying to escape, accept, fight, or understand the reality of his decision and its effect on her and her relatives. Tucker aptly describes children’s emotions and confusion towards their parents and grandparents’ actions while at the same time loving and needing them, as well as the lack of explanation parents provide to their children. Lyla’s teenage rebellion towards her mother is palpable and intelligent, countered by her mother’s inability to control her own grief and dimwittedness. While the ending chapters seem to miss sections of Lyla’s life that might help readers to more fully understand how Lyla finally comes to terms with herself and how to find peace and acceptance, the writing is sublime — filled with tight metaphors, imagery and phrasing that keeps the reader wanting more. A lovely debut novel from a promising, gifted author.

Sadly this was mostly a boring read. Pages upon pages to share the installation of a tire swing or a reckless joy ride, only leads to aggravating the reader. This only continued with other points in the book--grandmother, "journey" to college... whatever might turn up. This reader was totally aggravated. If it hadn't have been about the commitment to read an ARC this would have been a DNR. Not worth the effort to read it through to the end. So sad that nothing was ever developed into a true story--not plot, not characters. Not even concept.

This was a very good book going into the management of guilt and trauma. This was a unique tale at that..I really liked it.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

generally good, but has weakness at both the start of the book not going in well and the end not coming out well. 3 stars. tysm for the arc.

An exploration of family guilt and trauma after the protagonist's father takes his own life.

Unfortunately, I had higher expectations for this. The quality of the writing was subpar at times, and I do not necessarily think all plot points were crafted well. I do believe this book could appeal to certain audiences! There's quite a bit of drama that just makes this a quick read as you keep wanting to turn the page.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.