Review of THE RED GROVE by Tessa Fontaine (New Release)

 3 Stars

Sixteen-year-old Luce Shelley lives with her mother Gloria, her brother Roo, and her invalid aunt Gem in Red Grove, a secluded community comprised mostly of women in the ancient redwood forest of northern California.  This community provides a safe haven for women; they are told that they will always be safe from the dangers of society, especially the violence of men.  Interwoven with Luce’s story, set in 1997, is the community’s origin story dating back to 1853.   

One day Gloria goes missing.  Luce knows that her mother wouldn’t just abandon them, especially not her twin sister who lives in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and relies on Gloria for her care.  As Luce looks for her mother, she uncovers secrets about Red Grove.  She discovers that her home may not really be as safe as she’s been taught. 

One of the book’s central ideas is inter-connectedness.  The trees are connected by a mycorrhizal network:  “the roots of the redwood trees reaching as wide as the trees were tall, [were] passing sugars and water back and forth, feeding the weak, holding the tallest of them upright, flashing memories to one another along the mycorrhizal network.”  But Luce later suggests that the women are also “embedded in the network of this forest.”  She is asked, “’Did you know it isn’t just all the plant roots that are connected in the dirt.  That it’s all the animals and bugs and people in the Red Grove too?  Even the dead ones.’”  The later parts of the novel suggest communication is possible between humans and nature and that even the dead can use this network to communicate.   

Of course, the message is also that the community of Red Grove gains its strength from the connections among its members. Though they are told that their community has a magical protective shield, “the truth of their power, which was within them, their actions and tenderness [was] so much stronger than a myth.”  

There’s a mystery of course:  what happened to Gloria?  But the book is also very much a coming-of-age story.  Luce is very much devoted to Red Grove, its mission, rituals, and myths.  In fact, she is being groomed to be the next leader, though Gloria has reservations.  She has issues with Una, the current leader, believing that “any isolated community, no matter how noble its intentions, restricted you.  It made the world too small.”  For instance, she worries that Luce and Roo think of themselves as impervious to harm in Red Grove.  When Luce uncovers secrets long hidden about events at Red Grove, she has to decide whether to keep those secrets or reveal them.  She loses her innocence as she learns about the place that has been her home for half her life. And her understanding of her relationship with her mother matures. 

Pacing is a problem. The book begins very slowly. Even after Gloria vanishes, nothing much happens. Only two-thirds of the way through the book is there any real tension. The chapters of the origin story, though interesting, do little to add to the suspense. Then the closing chapters are vague and will leave many readers feeling unsatisfied.  

What bothered me as well is the magic realism/ supernatural elements. Some of the communication that occurs I did not find convincing. The so-called mother-tree hypothesis is very appealing, but the author implies a whole new purpose of these networks and I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief. Then we are supposed to believe that “’There is no such thing as coincidence. . . . Coincidence is communication. It always means something’”? The scenes involving the mummy are just too much! Each time the mummy was mentioned, my interest lessened. 

The novel has some interesting ideas. It inspires thinking about how women are viewed when they take control of their own lives and whether isolated communities such as Red Grove can be successful or are even a good idea. However, the novel’s pacing and its more outlandish elements definitely affected my enjoyment.  

Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.