Cooper lives with his daughter, Finch, in isolation in a cabin deep in the Appalachian woods with no electricity or running water. They’ve lived there for eight years, ever since the girl was an infant. Is Cooper simply a back-to-nature guy? No, he’s not. Moving to the woods was for him not a frivolous gesture, but, instead, a move generated out of necessity; the only way he knew of that would ensure their survival.

These Silent Woods is a compelling novel. Cooper, the narrator, is a man broken by war who did something bad eight years before – something so horrible that the only way he could keep his child was to escape to this remote cabin in the woods. But, now, Finch is not a little girl anymore. At eight, she knows the woods better than anyone and is beginning to realize that there may be more to life than the tiny cabin she calls home.

I loved this novel. The writing is as beautiful as the story is suspenseful. The tragic character of Cooper is rendered with grace and compassion – a man scarred by war who fell in love and thought he’d found peace, only to have tragedy strike once again and set him on a course that he knows deep down will never last.

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. The final chapters were read through a veil of tears that I couldn’t stop from flowing. Ms. Grant’s prose is vivid and every character is beautifully rendered.

These Silent Woods, A Novel is an outstanding work of fiction and is most highly recommended by this reader. Five Stars.