Andrea
asked
Tana French:
I LOVE your books and am about to start The Secret Place. I am sure you have been asked this before, but are we ever going to find out, what happened "In the Woods"?
Tana French
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Thank you very much!
The thing about In the Woods is that Rob Ryan is - possibly because of whatever happened when he was twelve, possibly just because of who he is - the kind of person who's incapable of taking any irrevocable leap. Whenever he gets close to anything that's irrevocable, he runs as far and as fast as he can - he does it in his relationship with Cassie, for example. So when he gets to the verge of remembering what happened, that's what he does: he runs.
So when it came to the ending of In the Woods, I had three choices:
1 - Turn the narrator into a totally different character at the end of the book, for the sake of a neat plot resolution: shoddy and dishonest.
2 - Have some other character do a deus ex machina and find out for him: forced and cheap.
3 - Complete the arc of his psychological journey (which for me was the core plot arc of the book) and the arc of the modern-day mystery, but leave the old one unsolved.
I went with the third one - because that was the one that was true to the character and the rest of the book, and because I always saw In the Woods as a book about Rob and what that old mystery resurfacing does to him, rather than a book about the mystery itself. I knew some readers would be furious that it didn't stick to the conventions of the mystery genre, and I could see why - but on the other hand, I also knew some readers would be furious if I sold out my narrator in the last chapter for easy closure. I figured all I could do was write the best book I was capable of writing, and hope it was good enough.
This is a long-winded way of saying that, at the moment, I can't see any way I'd be able to resolve that mystery - again, the answer is in Rob's head, and his nature means that he'll never have the courage to take that leap and find it. But I haven't ruled out the possibility that I'll find a way to clear it up, somewhere down the line.
(hide spoiler)]
The thing about In the Woods is that Rob Ryan is - possibly because of whatever happened when he was twelve, possibly just because of who he is - the kind of person who's incapable of taking any irrevocable leap. Whenever he gets close to anything that's irrevocable, he runs as far and as fast as he can - he does it in his relationship with Cassie, for example. So when he gets to the verge of remembering what happened, that's what he does: he runs.
So when it came to the ending of In the Woods, I had three choices:
1 - Turn the narrator into a totally different character at the end of the book, for the sake of a neat plot resolution: shoddy and dishonest.
2 - Have some other character do a deus ex machina and find out for him: forced and cheap.
3 - Complete the arc of his psychological journey (which for me was the core plot arc of the book) and the arc of the modern-day mystery, but leave the old one unsolved.
I went with the third one - because that was the one that was true to the character and the rest of the book, and because I always saw In the Woods as a book about Rob and what that old mystery resurfacing does to him, rather than a book about the mystery itself. I knew some readers would be furious that it didn't stick to the conventions of the mystery genre, and I could see why - but on the other hand, I also knew some readers would be furious if I sold out my narrator in the last chapter for easy closure. I figured all I could do was write the best book I was capable of writing, and hope it was good enough.
This is a long-winded way of saying that, at the moment, I can't see any way I'd be able to resolve that mystery - again, the answer is in Rob's head, and his nature means that he'll never have the courage to take that leap and find it. But I haven't ruled out the possibility that I'll find a way to clear it up, somewhere down the line.
(hide spoiler)]
More Answered Questions

A Goodreads user
asked
Tana French:
This is the second book that is centered around a group of friends who have turned each other into their family; who will do anything for each other. Does this inspiration for these close groups come from personal experience or is your draw to them more like how it is for Stephen (in the way that he envies it)?
Colleen
asked
Tana French:
I have read all of your books and just finished The Secret Place. I loved it; as an educator pf adolescents and young adults, I compliment you on how well you captured their lives and minds. Please refresh my memory on Holly and Stephen; how did they encounter each other in a previous novel?
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