The Red Tree

I'm not sure how to begin talking about this book, which is strange and haunting and loose almost to the point of unraveling. I finished it wondering what I had just read, what had happened, what it all meant. But it was definitely very spooky, which is mostly of what I wanted from it.

The story unfolds as the journal of Sarah Crowe. In the wake of her ex-lover's death and in an attempt to complete a new novel, she takes up residence in an old farmhouse in Rhode Island. There's an enormous tree on the property with an unsettling history, and strange things begin happening.

Except that it's not clear at all whether or not they're really happening. It quickly becomes apparent that Sarah is not a reliable narrator at all. The question really becomes: how unreliable is she? She admits to making up some things. She has gaps in her memory. It's not at all clear whether she's actually being haunted or whether she's suffering a psychotic break in the wake of a whole lot of tragedy. And the more I try to figure it out, the more contradictions I find.

This book left me feeling deeply unsettled, and I'm having a hard time reacting to it. Or even understanding it really. I'm not entirely sure what it's about, or if it's supposed to be anything more than a ghost story. If the latter, then it succeeds. If not, then I'm not entirely sure.