The Way Beneath The Wood

by I F G O'Donnell

"A delight and an inspiration, and an enrichment of our field." - Ramsey Campbell

Fairies, fauns, ogres and other strange creatures haunt this dark and twisty literary horror tale as Nick is caught up in a centuries old struggle and set upon the road to murder and madness… and, just possibly, redemption.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, the redevelopment of a huge country estate; but the deal unravels, and with it so too do aspiring tycoon Nick’s family relationships and dreams of success. Is he the victim, as he comes to believe, of the subtle manipulations of shadowy creatures from the dark, pagan past, or is he losing his sanity along with his family and everything he has fought for? IFG O’Donnell conjures the spirit of the masters of fantasy horror from the late 19th and early 20th century in this surprising, magical and intense literary tale.

What readers say about this:

"A rich tale of deceit, revenge and murder, with supernatural entities pulling the strings."

"Absolutely enchanting, gorgeous, powerful, marvelous. And I’m a picky reader!"

"I loved this book and couldn't put it down. Magical and strange, and I hope there are more to come."

"Powerful storytelling and accomplished prose."

"Well. What a great read. I haven't ever read anything like it before. Such an intriguing weird narrative with stories about strange goings on in between. I loved it. Very very good."

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2021

About the author

Ian F G O’Donnell grew up in Sussex and Kent, and moved to London at the first opportunity, where he has lived ever since. The Way Beneath The Wood is Ian’s first self-published novel, founded upon a passion for early 20th century fantasy and horror and his formative years in the wilds of Sussex. He lives surrounded by books in Islington with his wife and their two university age creative kids. For his sins he’s a season ticket holder at the Arsenal.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Way Beneath the Wood by author I F G O’Donnell tells the story of Nick Carpenter, a man of sardonic wit, especially in thought, who appears to be at odds with everyone in his life. Early scenes suggest some self-pity is at play, but not entirely, as readers learn along the way. Nick is relatable in his professional and personal struggles because he also presents with an earnest desire to be successful in his efforts. Is he always honorable in the way he goes about striving for success? No. He’s suffering from greed, jealousy, lust, and a need to control outcomes. But he’s likeable, nonetheless! It helps his cause that, as readers come to know the people who orbit his life, it becomes clear that they’re not without blame. Nick’s attempts to salvage his broken relationship with his ex-girlfriend and find success in his business ventures might initially appear to be the plot of this story, but no, that’s not what’s going on here. There is so much more to this story!

The Way Beneath the Wood is an intricately woven tale which brings the modern world together with the past. Chapters alternate between what Nick is doing right now, to stories taken from the pages of an antique book in Nick’s possession called Folklore and Topography of Bewick. This book was written by a man named Walter Peachey, a long deceased naturalist and writer who went mad searching for fairies in their “timeless hall.”
Nick’s story is interspersed with old stories from Walter Peachey’s book, and readers should definitely pay attention to the content of those stories!

This story is not told at a fast pace. Author O’Donnell savors the details he directs readers to in a mesmerizing way, gripping the imagination of the reader in his literary spell. Keenly observed images and dialogue set the mood and build an atmosphere of otherworldliness even while depicting modern settings. This translates well to the interspersed stories from Walter Peachey’s book. Elevated and elegant prose is used throughout even in the telling of the story of Nick who exists in the modern world. I found this made the transitions to chapters taken from Walter Peachey’s antique book less jarring. Readers will get a sense of an even older style of prose from Walter Peachey’s book, but there’s a comfortable subtlety that helps the story flow. In neither case is there a sense of a weak imitation of language. In fact, the language and sentence structure used by author O’Donnell contribute to the atmosphere of the story across the various timelines.

There are so many riveting stories within The Way Beneath the Wood. The stories all contain unique characters, even if you only meet them within a single chapter. Every character readers meet conveys a unique personality, bringing depth to the story. From Nick’s insufferable cousin Clifton, to his narcissistic mother, and then the volatile Shitty Mary, the characters jump off of the pages with expressive personalities too richly drawn to blend in one with the other or leave the reader confused.


The Way Beneath the Wood is a brilliant story, gorgeously told through rich prose from a variety of sources. The stories are old and new and ultimately come together to create an ending that is sure to surprise and impress readers. I loved this story and highly recommend it to all. It’s only August, but I think I just read my favorite book of the year.

[J J Trafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

insanely brilliant!!

I couldn’t put this down… kept finding moments even when working to run off and read it.. so fabulously brilliant.. what a story line, what believable fantasy, what if it was real?… it could be…….

[Abbie Mearns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I wanted to love this book, but it didn’t have nearly as much folklore as I had hoped, I guessed the ending about 30% of the way through, and the protagonist is human garbage.

[Janis Bonner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never give 5 stars because—Dickens

Read it.
Just read it. It’s woven by a deft story spinner.
I forgot I had another life.
Read it.

[Hope Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book ! I rarely write a review but felt compelled to do so . I highly recommend this book ! I’m looking forward to reading more from I F G O’Donnell!

[Jenny H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept reading because I wanted to see how it ended, but I wasn't interested in keeping the book or reading it again. It was an interesting plot situation, but not particularly well-written, with jarring solecisms such as using '...and I' where it should be '...and me' and spelling 'all right' as one word, which marked this out as self-published; it gave an amateurish look.

There are other things that didn't add up: the bride arriving on horseback, in full bridal gown with train, with no account of how on earth she managed that; a lot of space devoted to 'giving the bride away' and then saying it was a Catholic service, which doesn't include any such ritual (and I don't think even in the CofE service the 'giver' has any lines to say - he just places the bride's hand in the groom's). Fauns have no place in English folklore, and there's never been any suggestion that the Fairy people are from or belong in Hell: they are not devils

The characters were not 3-dimensional and nor were their actions and motivations credible; and it wasn't really clear how the denouement worked, by which I mean how what happened solved the supernatural characters' problem. The poem at the end seemed to contradict everything that had gone before anyway.

It passed a few hours fairly agreeably, but I would have enjoyed a better book more.

[Nicola Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading reviews of this - did we read the same book?
Magical - where was the magic??? There were excerpts of a book about fairies but not once was it mysterious and magical. And in the actual story just a group of objectionable upper class toffs who had no redeeming qualities at all including the main character Nick!!! The only proper appearance of these mystical beings comes right at the end for literally 2 pages.
And no explanation of the significance of Wychwood Hall or what the chapel was underneath. I mean you can guess but it wasn’t really very clear. Very disappointing!

[Richard Haynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes you read a book that jerks you around. The story of Nick if read without the other chapters about whatever I would rate 4.5 stars. A very good story. The other chapters could have been a collection of short stories and I also would have given that book a 4.5 rating. However, the coupling of these two different groups were for me without flow and no tie in. So my final rating of 3.5.

[Charles M · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astounding work

An amazing read. Very hard to describe, it really must be read.
It is like an anthology and yet all one story.
Chapters interweave like braided wire to be forged into a single blade. Some chapters are but one paragraph, others are full short stories able to stand alone but all work together to build the one tale.
Do not miss this book.

[Judith Somerset · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fae are Alive and Well!

I have to say, I love this book. The way the story unfolds, the very real characters created, and the Fae Lore were believable and enthralling I recommend this book to any who love to walk the line between the worlds.

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is one I enjoyed. I like fiction based on faerie folklore, and this fits that description. The only thing I didn't understand was why Whychwood Hall. I won't say anything more to avoid spoilers. I might have missed something in my reading, so please let me know if I did.

[Michelle Mckearnon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on this,which says something as it left me with 3 hours on a train with nothing to read. Disjointed and poorly put together, with unlikeable and stereotypical characters.
Self published for a reason.

[Kelly Gaither · Rating 3 out of 5]

an ok read, intriguing enough to get to the end, and luckily the last few chapters really picked up and tied it all together. the protagonist is insufferable. so I guess good writing to make you very much disklike the protagonist

[Lynda Fryatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical

This book wove its spell on me. Atmospheric and a good Autumn read. It would make a great film. I highly recommend it.

[mrs carolyne hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I loved this book and couldn't put it down .Magical and strange and I hope there are more to come.

[Elizabeth Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I found this book hard going at times I also found it had captured my interest to the point I knew I had to finish it. Worth reading but not my usual genre.

[John F Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story! Original and different! If you like English folklore and dogearring book when you find clues, this is for you.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic fantasy!

The storyline is dark and gripping. So many stories within stories. The dialogues are so witty and enchanting. Very atmospheric and spooky. A lot of twists!

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! I devoured it in 2 days. O’Donnell weaves mysteries of the past with mysteries of the future creating a truly unique page turner.