In The Heart Of The Dark Wood

A motherless girl hungry for hope . . . and the dream that could be leading her astray. Almost two years have passed since twelve-year-old Allie Granderson’s beloved mother, Mary, disappeared into the wild tornado winds. Her body has never been found. Allie clings to memories of her mother, just as she clings to the broken compass she left behind, the makeshift Nativity scene in the front yard, and her best friend Zach. But even with Zach at her side, the compass on her wrist, and the Nativity right outside the window, Allie cannot help but feel lost in all the growing up that must get done. When the Holy Mother disappears from the yard, Allie’s bewilderment is compounded by the sudden movement of her mother’s compass. Following the needle, Allie and Zach leave the city behind and push into the inky forest on the outskirts of Mattingly. For Allie, the journey is more than a ghost hunt: she is rejoining the mother she lost—and finding herself with each step deeper into the heart of the dark wood. Brimming with lyrical prose and unexpected discoveries, In the Heart of the Dark Wood illustrates the steep transition we all must undergo—the moment we shed our childlike selves and step into the strange territory of adulthood.

A story of love and grief. ‘I became a widower and a father on the same day’ says Joseph Luzzi. His book tells how Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ helped him to endure his grief, raise their infant daughter, and rediscover love.

A weekend away deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in this suspenseful and compulsive debut psychological thriller. Sometimes the only thing to fear...is yourself. Leonora (Lee to some, Nora to others) is a reclusive writer, but when an old friend unexpectedly invites her to a weekend away in an eerie glass house, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But a haunting realization creeps in to the party: they are not alone in the woods. Forty-eight hours later, Nora wakes up in a hospital bed with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?” she tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. In order to uncover secrets and reveal motives, Nora must revisit parts of herself that she’d rather leave buried where they belong: in the past. In the vein of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, this gripping thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.

Have you left the faith you used to have but don’t know what to move toward? When you can’t see the road ahead, do you feel lost and alone? Do you wish you had a group of companions willing to wander with you? Welcome to the Dark Wood. As you journey through the unknown, you may feel tempted, lost, and uncertain. Though commonly feared and avoided, these feelings of uncertainty can be your greatest assets on this journey because it is in uncertainty that we probe, question, and discover. According to the ancients, you don’t need to be a saint or spiritual master to experience profound awakening and live with God’s presence and guidance. You need only to wander. In clear and lucid prose that combines the heart of a mystic, the soul of a poet, and the mind of a biblical scholar, Dr. Eric Elnes demystifies the seven gifts bestowed in the Dark Wood: the gifts of uncertainty, emptiness, being thunderstruck, getting lost, temptation, disappearing, and the gift of misfits. This is a book for anyone who feels awkward in their search for God, anyone who seeks to find holiness amid their holy mess, and anyone who prefers practicality to piety when it comes to finding their place in this world.

Helen Luke takes readers on a journey from the "dark wood" of the Inferno

Elisabeth Tonnard's In This Dark Wood is a study of urban alienation in America. In a haunting, modern-gothic style, it pairs images of people walking alone in nighttime city streets with 90 different English translations, collected by Tonnard, of the famous first lines of Dante's Inferno: "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita / mi ritrovai per una selva oscura / ché la diritta via era smarrita." ("In the middle of the journey of our life / I found myself in a dark wood / for the straight way was lost"). The images were selected from the Joseph Selle collection at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, which contains over a million negatives from a company of street photographers who worked in San Francisco from the 1940s to the 70s. This edition is a reprint of a work originally self-published in 2008.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Beatty comes a spooky, thrilling new series set in the magical world of Serafina. Move without a sound. Steal without a trace. Willa, a young nightspirit of the Great Smoky Mountains, is her clan's best thief. She creeps into the homes of day-folk in the cover of darkness and takes what they won't miss. It's dangerous work—the day-folk kill whatever they do not understand. But when Willa's curiosity leaves her hurt and stranded in a day-folk man's home, everything she thought she knew about her people—and their greatest enemy—is forever changed.

The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain. When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her.

A short walk in the wood. A long journey to hell. Fran is walking in her local wood when she sees a teenage boy, Tyler, being brutally murdered. She goes to the police, tells them what she saw, and then tries to settle back into normal life. But she is tormented by guilt - was there something she could have done to save the boy? Fran can't let it go and finds herself drawn to Tyler's grieving mother, Mel, both finding some strange connection through this shared trauma. Then someone launches a terrifying campaign of intimidation against Fran and her husband, Laurie. Could it be the killers? Are they letting her know she better be careful what she says? And why is Mel acting so strangely? Does she know more about her son's death than she is saying? Fran can't help herself - she needs to know the truth. But when she begins to dig, she uncovers the terrible secret of the deep, dark wood - a secret that will change her life forever. In a Deep Dark Wood - a stunning psychological thriller with a nerve-shredding climax. Perfect for fans of K. L. Slater, Sarah A. Denzil and Miranda Rijks What readers are saying about Into A Deep Dark Woods: "In a Deep Dark Wood is a compelling story I enjoyed. There were moments when I planned to stop reading for the day, but I kept reading because the plot wouldn't let me do otherwise. I can say there was a big surprise I definitely didn't see coming!" -Booksprout Reviewer "This is compulsive and enthralling story that moves at a fast pace..." -Netgalley Reviewer "... edge of your seat suspense erupting into a chilling, explosive finish." -Booksprout Reviewer "Tina Pritchard delivers with In a Deep Dark Wood - a thrilling page turner!" -Amazon Reviewer " ...ticks all the right boxes for me. I truly enjoyed every page of this book. An excellent debut, one which I easily recommend. I sped through it so fast I wished I had savoured every page when I had finished." -Sharon Beyond the Books "...a chilling piece of fiction that will satisfy any crime genre reader." -Books Behind the Title "I found 'In A Deep Dark Wood' to be a gripping read, which kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout." -Ginger Book Geek "Well, this one hooked me good and proper! ...an astonishingly gripping story from start to finish and I loved it!" -Dawn's Book Reviews "I was rapidly hooked by this story... a very fast and engaging read - perfect for lockdown!" -Read and Rated