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The Poison Tree
From an incredible new voice in psychological suspense, a novel about the secrets that remain after a final bohemian summer of excess turns deadly.
This taut psychological thriller begins when Karen and her nine-year- old daughter, Alice, pick up Rex from a ten-year stint in prison for murder. Flash back to the sultry summer in 1990s London when Karen, a straight-A student on the verge of college graduation, first meets the exotic, flamboyant Biba and joins her louche life in a crumbling mansion in Highgate. She begins a relationship with Biba's enigmatic and protective older brother, Rex, and falls into a blissful rhythm of sex, alcohol, and endless summer nights. Naïvely, Karen assumes her newfound happiness will last forever. But Biba and Rex have a complicated family history-one of abandonment, suicide, and crippling guilt-and Karen's summer of freedom is about to end in blood.
When old ghosts come back to destroy the life it has taken Karen a decade to build, she has everything to lose. She will do whatever it takes to protect her family and keep her secret. Alternating between the fragile present and the lingering past with a shocker of an ending, The Poison Tree is a brilliant suspense debut that will appeal to readers of Kate Atkinson, Donna Tartt, and Tana French.
This taut psychological thriller begins when Karen and her nine-year- old daughter, Alice, pick up Rex from a ten-year stint in prison for murder. Flash back to the sultry summer in 1990s London when Karen, a straight-A student on the verge of college graduation, first meets the exotic, flamboyant Biba and joins her louche life in a crumbling mansion in Highgate. She begins a relationship with Biba's enigmatic and protective older brother, Rex, and falls into a blissful rhythm of sex, alcohol, and endless summer nights. Naïvely, Karen assumes her newfound happiness will last forever. But Biba and Rex have a complicated family history-one of abandonment, suicide, and crippling guilt-and Karen's summer of freedom is about to end in blood.
When old ghosts come back to destroy the life it has taken Karen a decade to build, she has everything to lose. She will do whatever it takes to protect her family and keep her secret. Alternating between the fragile present and the lingering past with a shocker of an ending, The Poison Tree is a brilliant suspense debut that will appeal to readers of Kate Atkinson, Donna Tartt, and Tana French.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 10, 2010
658 people are currently reading
11299 people want to read
About the author
Erin Kelly
53 books1,608 followersErin Kelly was born in London in 1976 and grew up in Essex. She read English at Warwick University and has been working as a journalist since 1998.
She has written for newspapers including the The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Express and magazines including Red, Psychologies, Marie Claire, Elle and Cosmopolitan.
She has written for newspapers including the The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Express and magazines including Red, Psychologies, Marie Claire, Elle and Cosmopolitan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,362 reviews
January 29, 2019
hmm...
so i am giving this four stars because
1)there is no option for three-and-a-half
2)it was kind of the perfect book to suit my mood in the day-and-a-half it took me to read it
3)in the spectrum of "books that claim to be just like secret history" this one takes home high marks.
but really - it's just a fast-paced crime thriller and is not likely to stay with me for any real amount of time.
it gets points for having the central character named karen. and having her be a genius of languages. but a lot of it is just a secret history tongue and groove DIY project. brilliant underachievers? crumbling mansion? wealthy layabouts sponsoring a poor friend?? mysterious happenings? moral blurriness? alcohol and drug anesthesia?
yeah, it's all there. and i feel like i have written this review before, for all the books chasing donna tartt's tail. and i was nineteen or thereabouts when i read secret history. i remember being riveted at my temp job, sitting in front of the usually silent phone, occasionally being roused from the text to crisply say "stewart, tabori and chang" into the mouthpiece. but since then, i have met so many people who have been really ho-hum about it. am i wrong? is my memory of it making it out to be something better than it is? was i just impressed at the time because it was something "new" tossed into the previously mild pool of my reading up to that point?
i hope not. i hope secret history is every bit as good as i remember it, and the haters are the same people who hate anything that falls into that "ambitious without being highbrow" category. if it wasn't good, why would there be so many people trying to imitate it?
don't answer that.
but - yeah- this book - a great diversion, definitely captivating, good characters. i don't know that i would encourage anyone to own it, but it would be an excellent library loaner. it is a fairly uncomplicated story about cause and effect, with some odd human behavior thrown in. just a lot of me second-guessing the characters with "why didn't she..." and "but why not simply..."
but that is its own kind of fun.
four stars for my own enjoyment, three if i am recommending it to someone else.
like you.
come to my blog!
so i am giving this four stars because
1)there is no option for three-and-a-half
2)it was kind of the perfect book to suit my mood in the day-and-a-half it took me to read it
3)in the spectrum of "books that claim to be just like secret history" this one takes home high marks.
but really - it's just a fast-paced crime thriller and is not likely to stay with me for any real amount of time.
it gets points for having the central character named karen. and having her be a genius of languages. but a lot of it is just a secret history tongue and groove DIY project. brilliant underachievers? crumbling mansion? wealthy layabouts sponsoring a poor friend?? mysterious happenings? moral blurriness? alcohol and drug anesthesia?
yeah, it's all there. and i feel like i have written this review before, for all the books chasing donna tartt's tail. and i was nineteen or thereabouts when i read secret history. i remember being riveted at my temp job, sitting in front of the usually silent phone, occasionally being roused from the text to crisply say "stewart, tabori and chang" into the mouthpiece. but since then, i have met so many people who have been really ho-hum about it. am i wrong? is my memory of it making it out to be something better than it is? was i just impressed at the time because it was something "new" tossed into the previously mild pool of my reading up to that point?
i hope not. i hope secret history is every bit as good as i remember it, and the haters are the same people who hate anything that falls into that "ambitious without being highbrow" category. if it wasn't good, why would there be so many people trying to imitate it?
don't answer that.
but - yeah- this book - a great diversion, definitely captivating, good characters. i don't know that i would encourage anyone to own it, but it would be an excellent library loaner. it is a fairly uncomplicated story about cause and effect, with some odd human behavior thrown in. just a lot of me second-guessing the characters with "why didn't she..." and "but why not simply..."
but that is its own kind of fun.
four stars for my own enjoyment, three if i am recommending it to someone else.
like you.
come to my blog!
May 30, 2021
Following The Secret History, there has been an avalanche of books claiming to be like it or inspired by it. My attention was first drawn to The Poison Tree, after I read a review comparing it to The Secret History. My interest was immediately piqued because The Secret History, as some of you may know, is one of my all-time favorites.
Though many elements of the book are reminiscent of The Secret History, The Poison Tree manages to hold its own. It's mesmerizing, unsettling and shocking. It's definitely going to be on my "Best of 2011" list at the end of the year.
In 1997, Karen Clarke was what we call a "good girl". She had good grades and always did what her parents expected her to. All this changed when she met the charismatic Biba - stunning, carefree and so filled with life. Unlike Karen, Biba had a lifestyle that was glamorous and exciting. It made Karen's life look dull. What followed was that Karen was instantly and irresistibly drawn to Biba. Rex, Biba's brother, was exactly the opposite of her - overprotective and a worrier. Though he and his sister looked so alike, he almost disappeared next to his enigmatic sister. When Karen moved in with Biba and Rex in their home, she anticipated an adventure filled summer. Initially, it started off that way, but all that changed as the events of that summer turned out to have a life-changing impact. What Karen mistook for Biba's perfect story-book life was not so after all; Rex and Biba had a painful past. As Karen found out more about them, the more she became embroiled in a tangled web of secrets.
Ten years later, Karen is living a life of paranoia. She is constantly on the edge, sensing danger everywhere. She lives with her daughter, Alice, whom she is fiercely protective of. Rex, Alice's father has been recently released from the prison after he was arrested for murder ten years ago. Karen and Rex desperately want a chance of living a "normal" life, which they were denied before. What Rex doesn't know is that Karen has secrets which she can't even reveal to him. She is scared and trying her best to protect Alice and Rex from all harm. She's afraid that anything can happen any time, afraid that her past will come to haunt her again. Karen might be constantly worried about what might happen, but she knows that she will do anything to protect Rex and Alice.
As the story moves back and forth between 1997 and ten years later, more of the story is revealed and more edge-of-the-seat it gets. My heart was racing with every page I turned; I was almost as afraid as Karen of what was about to come. Tension increases with each chapter, as we get to know the events of the summer of 1997 which shaped Rex and Karen's present. The unexpected twists kept me glued to the book and sleep completely evaded me. We know that Rex went to prison for murder. What we don't know is whose murder it was. As questions after questions kept piling up in my head, I had to resist the urge to read the ending.
None of the characters are perfect - every one of them is deeply flawed. Still, I felt for Karen and Rex. I cannot imagine living your whole life in fear, for what what you did when you were so young and naive. Karen , in some ways, reminded me of myself. She always does the right thing, the "careful" thing. Yet somewhere inside, she's yearning for an exciting life. Biba is a character who will grab your attention - she mesmerizes and disturbed me at the same time. Her reckless, selfish and dramatic nature causes trouble and chaos. Despite that, Rex and Karen would do anything for her. By the end of the book, she almost seems inhuman to me and her selfishness is beyond shocking.
The best thing about The Poison Tree is the atmosphere that the author has created. Throughout the book, there's a feeling of impending danger, something dark lurking in the background. I was constantly worried about what I might find out and at the same time, I could not wait to see what happens next. To say that the ending was unexpected will be an understatement. I NEVER saw it coming. I didn't think what happened was possible to happen. My heart was pounding all the while I was reading the ending.
The Poison Tree is one of the best psychological thrillers that I've read recently. The characters and the ending continued to haunt me long after I had finished reading the book. The morbid atmosphere of paranoia and fear that the author has created is definitely praiseworthy.
Visit my Bookstagram for more book reviews:
Literarianism
Though many elements of the book are reminiscent of The Secret History, The Poison Tree manages to hold its own. It's mesmerizing, unsettling and shocking. It's definitely going to be on my "Best of 2011" list at the end of the year.
In 1997, Karen Clarke was what we call a "good girl". She had good grades and always did what her parents expected her to. All this changed when she met the charismatic Biba - stunning, carefree and so filled with life. Unlike Karen, Biba had a lifestyle that was glamorous and exciting. It made Karen's life look dull. What followed was that Karen was instantly and irresistibly drawn to Biba. Rex, Biba's brother, was exactly the opposite of her - overprotective and a worrier. Though he and his sister looked so alike, he almost disappeared next to his enigmatic sister. When Karen moved in with Biba and Rex in their home, she anticipated an adventure filled summer. Initially, it started off that way, but all that changed as the events of that summer turned out to have a life-changing impact. What Karen mistook for Biba's perfect story-book life was not so after all; Rex and Biba had a painful past. As Karen found out more about them, the more she became embroiled in a tangled web of secrets.
Ten years later, Karen is living a life of paranoia. She is constantly on the edge, sensing danger everywhere. She lives with her daughter, Alice, whom she is fiercely protective of. Rex, Alice's father has been recently released from the prison after he was arrested for murder ten years ago. Karen and Rex desperately want a chance of living a "normal" life, which they were denied before. What Rex doesn't know is that Karen has secrets which she can't even reveal to him. She is scared and trying her best to protect Alice and Rex from all harm. She's afraid that anything can happen any time, afraid that her past will come to haunt her again. Karen might be constantly worried about what might happen, but she knows that she will do anything to protect Rex and Alice.
As the story moves back and forth between 1997 and ten years later, more of the story is revealed and more edge-of-the-seat it gets. My heart was racing with every page I turned; I was almost as afraid as Karen of what was about to come. Tension increases with each chapter, as we get to know the events of the summer of 1997 which shaped Rex and Karen's present. The unexpected twists kept me glued to the book and sleep completely evaded me. We know that Rex went to prison for murder. What we don't know is whose murder it was. As questions after questions kept piling up in my head, I had to resist the urge to read the ending.
None of the characters are perfect - every one of them is deeply flawed. Still, I felt for Karen and Rex. I cannot imagine living your whole life in fear, for what what you did when you were so young and naive. Karen , in some ways, reminded me of myself. She always does the right thing, the "careful" thing. Yet somewhere inside, she's yearning for an exciting life. Biba is a character who will grab your attention - she mesmerizes and disturbed me at the same time. Her reckless, selfish and dramatic nature causes trouble and chaos. Despite that, Rex and Karen would do anything for her. By the end of the book, she almost seems inhuman to me and her selfishness is beyond shocking.
The best thing about The Poison Tree is the atmosphere that the author has created. Throughout the book, there's a feeling of impending danger, something dark lurking in the background. I was constantly worried about what I might find out and at the same time, I could not wait to see what happens next. To say that the ending was unexpected will be an understatement. I NEVER saw it coming. I didn't think what happened was possible to happen. My heart was pounding all the while I was reading the ending.
The Poison Tree is one of the best psychological thrillers that I've read recently. The characters and the ending continued to haunt me long after I had finished reading the book. The morbid atmosphere of paranoia and fear that the author has created is definitely praiseworthy.
Visit my Bookstagram for more book reviews:
Literarianism
June 14, 2011
I seriously hope that Erin Kelly, the author of The Poison Tree, is not one of those writers who read the reviews of their books here at Goodreads (as I know some writers do) because I really did not like this book at all. I feel as if I have been robbed of the opportunity to read good novels by wasting my time reading this dreck.
The Poison Tree is promoted as a brilliant, mysterious thriller. It is not.
It is an excercise in emotionally overwrought tedium and long-winded ridiculousness. It attempts to build more and more tension (and does so rather poorly) as the novel advances, but the atmosphere of forbidding and fear with which the author tries infuse her story is extremely weak, and the mystery that she does ever so very, very, very slowly elaborate is really not that mysterious at all and is dull--just dull, pure and simple. Several times I resolved to simply stop reading The Poison Tree, but then I would re-read the reviews on the back cover and be inspired with a hope that the plot would soon take off, and I would at last find myself in the midst of a compelling mystery. Alas, that never happened.
The secrets that the narrator, Karen, keeps, which she refers to often but without revealing their nature until near the end of the novel, lead the reader to believe that Karen is hiding some grave, serious sins. She is not: her secrets are actually things that she has done which are very praiseworthy and not even remotely bad; she also keeps us in the dark with a secret about her lover, Rex, which is also a secret that shows, basically, what a great guy Rex is instead of being some deep, dark, wicked secret about him.
Karen, moreover, is one of the most socially inept, completely naive characters that I have ever encountered in literature. For example, Karen portrays herself as being, until she meets Rex and Rex's sister, Biba, a rarther quiet, shy person who has few really close friends. Upon meeting Rex and Biba, Karen immediately attaches herself to them and begins to act as if she has known them for years and, in fact, moves in with them within a matter of only a week or so of knowing them. And Karen is gravely hurt at the smallest slight and utterly thrilled at the subtlest praise from Biba, and after meeting Rex and Biba's friends--Nina, Tris, Jo--only a few times, Karen speaks of them as if she has known them for years and is very close friends with all of them and deeply concerned about every aspect of their lives. She barely knows these people and interacts with them for no more than a few days (with Rex and Biba's friends) or a few months (with Rex and Biba), yet she seems to think that they are all best friends and deeply concerned with each other and each other's lives. The immediate intimacy and tight-knit friendships that form among these characters in almost no time at all is not remotely realistic: it is so ludicrous that it borders on the incredible even for a work of fiction.
The prologue to the novel sets a frightening tone that promises dark secrets, possibly even murder, and revenge as the heroine and narrator, Karen, flees from a grave danger. This tone ends with the prologue as the rest of the novel, until the very last few pages of the last chapter, proceeds in torpid fashion, challenging even the most charitable of readers to stay awake and to finish this exercise in boring drivel.
****SPOILER ALERT****
The only redeeming value in this novel is the climax. Here at last, Biba, an awful, horribly unbelievably selfish, shallow character gets her proverbial just desserts when Karen actually does something that we readers can finally cheer: Karen murders Biba. Finally, Karen, you have a real dark secret that you need to keep.
The Poison Tree is promoted as a brilliant, mysterious thriller. It is not.
It is an excercise in emotionally overwrought tedium and long-winded ridiculousness. It attempts to build more and more tension (and does so rather poorly) as the novel advances, but the atmosphere of forbidding and fear with which the author tries infuse her story is extremely weak, and the mystery that she does ever so very, very, very slowly elaborate is really not that mysterious at all and is dull--just dull, pure and simple. Several times I resolved to simply stop reading The Poison Tree, but then I would re-read the reviews on the back cover and be inspired with a hope that the plot would soon take off, and I would at last find myself in the midst of a compelling mystery. Alas, that never happened.
The secrets that the narrator, Karen, keeps, which she refers to often but without revealing their nature until near the end of the novel, lead the reader to believe that Karen is hiding some grave, serious sins. She is not: her secrets are actually things that she has done which are very praiseworthy and not even remotely bad; she also keeps us in the dark with a secret about her lover, Rex, which is also a secret that shows, basically, what a great guy Rex is instead of being some deep, dark, wicked secret about him.
Karen, moreover, is one of the most socially inept, completely naive characters that I have ever encountered in literature. For example, Karen portrays herself as being, until she meets Rex and Rex's sister, Biba, a rarther quiet, shy person who has few really close friends. Upon meeting Rex and Biba, Karen immediately attaches herself to them and begins to act as if she has known them for years and, in fact, moves in with them within a matter of only a week or so of knowing them. And Karen is gravely hurt at the smallest slight and utterly thrilled at the subtlest praise from Biba, and after meeting Rex and Biba's friends--Nina, Tris, Jo--only a few times, Karen speaks of them as if she has known them for years and is very close friends with all of them and deeply concerned about every aspect of their lives. She barely knows these people and interacts with them for no more than a few days (with Rex and Biba's friends) or a few months (with Rex and Biba), yet she seems to think that they are all best friends and deeply concerned with each other and each other's lives. The immediate intimacy and tight-knit friendships that form among these characters in almost no time at all is not remotely realistic: it is so ludicrous that it borders on the incredible even for a work of fiction.
The prologue to the novel sets a frightening tone that promises dark secrets, possibly even murder, and revenge as the heroine and narrator, Karen, flees from a grave danger. This tone ends with the prologue as the rest of the novel, until the very last few pages of the last chapter, proceeds in torpid fashion, challenging even the most charitable of readers to stay awake and to finish this exercise in boring drivel.
****SPOILER ALERT****
The only redeeming value in this novel is the climax. Here at last, Biba, an awful, horribly unbelievably selfish, shallow character gets her proverbial just desserts when Karen actually does something that we readers can finally cheer: Karen murders Biba. Finally, Karen, you have a real dark secret that you need to keep.
February 7, 2011
This book did not succeed for me, on several levels. Primarily I just didn't get the fascination the narrator, Karen, felt for the Capel siblings, Biba and Rex. Biba seemed spoiled and self-absorbed and Rex was jobless, wimpy, and ineffective at his self-appointed task of being Biba's caretaker. Their so-called Bohemian lifestyle was pretty tame by my child-of-the-70s's standards. There was drinking and a little pot-smoking, a couple hits of ectasy and a few lines of cocaine--hardly the drug-crazed debauchery I was led to expect. The house the erstwhile Bohemians lived in was described repeatedly as a filthy, rundown pigsty which I fail to believe anyone would find appealing. Karen seems like a nice, grounded, middle-class girl, not an insecure, troubled and easily-influenced sycophant who would fall under the dubious spell of people like Biba and Rex. She is fluent in several languages yet has a "been there, done that" attitude towards the idea of spending the summer abroad, rather than hanging around London with the dirty and faintly repulsive Capels. The twist at the end was nicely done, but that's about it. The majority of this novel was thinly plotted and not especially authentic (Ms. Kelly should probably actually smoke some hash herself before she makes any more attempts to describe the experience), and I didn't find any of the characters' motivations to be very credible.
May 11, 2020
Pandemic rereads #4
The first time I read The Poison Tree is one of my strongest and most enduring reading memories. It was an unseasonably hot day in April 2011, and I got through almost all of it in a few hours while sat on a grassy bank in a park near my old sixth form college. Both setting and weather seemed a perfect fit for Erin Kelly's debut, which brims with heady nostalgia.
Of all the books I've been inspired to pull off my shelves and reread lately, I was least sure I'd still enjoy The Poison Tree. When I thought about it, I realised I could remember little of the story – except for a sense of atmosphere, and I couldn't be sure I wasn't conflating my memory of that day in April with the contents of the book itself. But once I had settled into the story, I tore through it, reading it even more quickly than the first time. It is indeed a fabulously atmospheric novel.
In fact, now I look back at my original review (which is below, and which I've left intact despite wanting to edit out the bits that now make me cringe), I feel I was unduly harsh. I remember this book as a favourite, I enjoyed it enough to buy a hardback copy after reading the ebook, and my review makes it sound as though I didn't really like it! In particular, I have no idea why I was so bothered by the present-day scenes – admittedly they're not as absorbing or evocative as the 1997 sections, but they're not that bad, and do not in any way spoil the book.
I liked the ending more this time, too; it might be a bit far-fetched but it's certainly cathartic.
TinyLetter
---
Original review (April 2011)
The Poison Tree had been on my Amazon wishlist for months, and this sunny weekend I finally decided to treat myself to it. I was happy to find that, true to my expectations, it was hugely readable, so much that I'd finished it within 24 hours of my purchase.
The book is divided up into two stories, flipping back and forth between the long, hot summer of 1997 and the present day. Both are narrated by Karen; in the 1997 story, she is a naive 20-year-old and, having recently finished her degree, becomes entangled with the decadent, overdramatic Biba Capel and her older, more reserved brother Rex. In the present-day plotline, we find Karen in her early thirties, living in a small country village with her nine-year-old daughter Alice, and adjusting to a new life with Rex, who has just been released from a long stint in prison (this isn't a spoiler, we learn it very early on). The rest of the book brings the two strands together, exploring exactly what happened in that fateful summer to lead to Rex's incarceration and Karen's paranoia - which, it quickly becomes clear, now dominates her life.
The 1997 sections of the book, I absolutely loved. The atmosphere of this cloying, dreamlike summer is conjured with such flair; Karen's passion for Biba and Rex's lifestyle, how she falls in love with the two siblings and their romantic, ramshackle house, her transition from strait-laced student to companion of the hedonistic Biba and the feelings of power, release and abandon this gives her. The whole thing seems desperately romantic and utterly enchanting; I could easily appreciate how thoroughly Karen was drawn into the Capels' world because, as a reader, I was consumed by it too. Even when I put the book down, images of chaotic house parties, Highgate streets and sweltering summer days were so vividly imprinted on my mind I felt like I'd been there. I'm sure anyone of my generation will appreciate the way in which Kelly accurately portrays a time not long past and yet suffuses it with great nostalgia.
I loved Karen, too; she's very believable and the narrative really gets under the character's skin. She's a self-confessed unremarkable girl who's had a sheltered existence, cosseted by a trio of vacuous friends and an equally boring boyfriend throughout university, and her revelatory entrance into a life where she no longer feels 'invisible' is wonderfully evoked. While there are some slightly irritating inconsistencies and mistakes (such as when Karen is given her first ecstasy tablet, has a wonderful time partying all night and then has absolutely no comedown?!), the overall effect is so arresting that small errors don't really dent its power.
The present-day story is, however, much weaker. It has all the hallmarks of those chick-lit-cum-thriller books that seem to be so popular these days – told in present tense, there's a first-person female narrator, secrets involving a crime/murder, usually a child or family involved somewhere, the woman will do ANYTHING TO PROTECT HER FAMILY, etc. I don't really like this genre and found the style a turn-off; I think present tense is quite difficult to pull off effectively and, while I can understand that it made sense to differentiate the past from the present in this way, it didn't work for me. I can also understand why Karen's character was different, having been altered as a result of all she'd experienced, but I'm afraid I found this version of her quite dull. Whenever one of the present-day segments popped up I found myself comparatively bored, desperate to get back to the past; they seemed like unwanted interruptions in an otherwise flawless narrative. They didn't ring entirely true, either – I wasn't convinced that after so much time in prison, Rex would move straight into Karen's home and start playing happy families with a daughter he'd only previously encountered through short visits every few months.
Crucially, I also disliked the ending. Where I had related to the younger Karen so much, I found the older version's final actions impossible to sympathise with.
For me, this is a book of two halves – one half I consider worthy of five stars, the other is more like three (no prizes for guessing which is which), hence the overall rating of four. I hope that if Erin Kelly writes anything else, she draws on the original, fascinating portrayal of human relationships and new experiences demonstrated in the past segments of this novel, rather than the much more pedestrian and uninteresting (if perhaps more likely to shift units...) thriller element represented by the present segments.
The first time I read The Poison Tree is one of my strongest and most enduring reading memories. It was an unseasonably hot day in April 2011, and I got through almost all of it in a few hours while sat on a grassy bank in a park near my old sixth form college. Both setting and weather seemed a perfect fit for Erin Kelly's debut, which brims with heady nostalgia.
Of all the books I've been inspired to pull off my shelves and reread lately, I was least sure I'd still enjoy The Poison Tree. When I thought about it, I realised I could remember little of the story – except for a sense of atmosphere, and I couldn't be sure I wasn't conflating my memory of that day in April with the contents of the book itself. But once I had settled into the story, I tore through it, reading it even more quickly than the first time. It is indeed a fabulously atmospheric novel.
In fact, now I look back at my original review (which is below, and which I've left intact despite wanting to edit out the bits that now make me cringe), I feel I was unduly harsh. I remember this book as a favourite, I enjoyed it enough to buy a hardback copy after reading the ebook, and my review makes it sound as though I didn't really like it! In particular, I have no idea why I was so bothered by the present-day scenes – admittedly they're not as absorbing or evocative as the 1997 sections, but they're not that bad, and do not in any way spoil the book.
I liked the ending more this time, too; it might be a bit far-fetched but it's certainly cathartic.
TinyLetter
---
Original review (April 2011)
The Poison Tree had been on my Amazon wishlist for months, and this sunny weekend I finally decided to treat myself to it. I was happy to find that, true to my expectations, it was hugely readable, so much that I'd finished it within 24 hours of my purchase.
The book is divided up into two stories, flipping back and forth between the long, hot summer of 1997 and the present day. Both are narrated by Karen; in the 1997 story, she is a naive 20-year-old and, having recently finished her degree, becomes entangled with the decadent, overdramatic Biba Capel and her older, more reserved brother Rex. In the present-day plotline, we find Karen in her early thirties, living in a small country village with her nine-year-old daughter Alice, and adjusting to a new life with Rex, who has just been released from a long stint in prison (this isn't a spoiler, we learn it very early on). The rest of the book brings the two strands together, exploring exactly what happened in that fateful summer to lead to Rex's incarceration and Karen's paranoia - which, it quickly becomes clear, now dominates her life.
The 1997 sections of the book, I absolutely loved. The atmosphere of this cloying, dreamlike summer is conjured with such flair; Karen's passion for Biba and Rex's lifestyle, how she falls in love with the two siblings and their romantic, ramshackle house, her transition from strait-laced student to companion of the hedonistic Biba and the feelings of power, release and abandon this gives her. The whole thing seems desperately romantic and utterly enchanting; I could easily appreciate how thoroughly Karen was drawn into the Capels' world because, as a reader, I was consumed by it too. Even when I put the book down, images of chaotic house parties, Highgate streets and sweltering summer days were so vividly imprinted on my mind I felt like I'd been there. I'm sure anyone of my generation will appreciate the way in which Kelly accurately portrays a time not long past and yet suffuses it with great nostalgia.
I loved Karen, too; she's very believable and the narrative really gets under the character's skin. She's a self-confessed unremarkable girl who's had a sheltered existence, cosseted by a trio of vacuous friends and an equally boring boyfriend throughout university, and her revelatory entrance into a life where she no longer feels 'invisible' is wonderfully evoked. While there are some slightly irritating inconsistencies and mistakes (such as when Karen is given her first ecstasy tablet, has a wonderful time partying all night and then has absolutely no comedown?!), the overall effect is so arresting that small errors don't really dent its power.
The present-day story is, however, much weaker. It has all the hallmarks of those chick-lit-cum-thriller books that seem to be so popular these days – told in present tense, there's a first-person female narrator, secrets involving a crime/murder, usually a child or family involved somewhere, the woman will do ANYTHING TO PROTECT HER FAMILY, etc. I don't really like this genre and found the style a turn-off; I think present tense is quite difficult to pull off effectively and, while I can understand that it made sense to differentiate the past from the present in this way, it didn't work for me. I can also understand why Karen's character was different, having been altered as a result of all she'd experienced, but I'm afraid I found this version of her quite dull. Whenever one of the present-day segments popped up I found myself comparatively bored, desperate to get back to the past; they seemed like unwanted interruptions in an otherwise flawless narrative. They didn't ring entirely true, either – I wasn't convinced that after so much time in prison, Rex would move straight into Karen's home and start playing happy families with a daughter he'd only previously encountered through short visits every few months.
Crucially, I also disliked the ending. Where I had related to the younger Karen so much, I found the older version's final actions impossible to sympathise with.
For me, this is a book of two halves – one half I consider worthy of five stars, the other is more like three (no prizes for guessing which is which), hence the overall rating of four. I hope that if Erin Kelly writes anything else, she draws on the original, fascinating portrayal of human relationships and new experiences demonstrated in the past segments of this novel, rather than the much more pedestrian and uninteresting (if perhaps more likely to shift units...) thriller element represented by the present segments.
January 24, 2015
3.5 stars
This drama/thriller/mystery(?) was fast paced and told a decent story with a satisfying twist.
Karen was a bit of a square at University specialising in languages for which she has a special gift. Her life was dull and safe until she met Biba a bohemian drama student whom she adored and whose lifestyle she coveted and adopted for one special summer.
Biba's brother Rex is completely different from Biba but he too drew Karen further into their world.
The beginning of the story is set in the present day where 10 years after that summer Karen and her daughter Alice are preparing for Rex to move back home with them after a long separation - we then flit back and forth between that summer and present day so Karen can tell us all about what happened and why.
I liked the pacing and the story but I did have a problem with characterisation.
Overall a fun and enjoyable read that worked well on audio.
This drama/thriller/mystery(?) was fast paced and told a decent story with a satisfying twist.
Karen was a bit of a square at University specialising in languages for which she has a special gift. Her life was dull and safe until she met Biba a bohemian drama student whom she adored and whose lifestyle she coveted and adopted for one special summer.
Biba's brother Rex is completely different from Biba but he too drew Karen further into their world.
The beginning of the story is set in the present day where 10 years after that summer Karen and her daughter Alice are preparing for Rex to move back home with them after a long separation - we then flit back and forth between that summer and present day so Karen can tell us all about what happened and why.
I liked the pacing and the story but I did have a problem with characterisation.
Overall a fun and enjoyable read that worked well on audio.
March 1, 2016
When I originally rated this book, the author "thanked" me on Twitter for my review. I could not tell if it was a serious or sarcastic thank you . . . Her followers were not very happy with me!
I am sure that some people will like this book a lot, but it seemed very contrived, forced, and unbelievable. It is in a genre that has been hit or miss for me (the "books-like-Gone-Girl" genre)
I am sure that some people will like this book a lot, but it seemed very contrived, forced, and unbelievable. It is in a genre that has been hit or miss for me (the "books-like-Gone-Girl" genre)
January 13, 2011
I seem to be in a minority here, but skip it! The main characters are self indulgent, substance abusing, free wheelers who are wasting their lives. I really could have cared less about them. I would have quit reading within the first few chapters, but I bought into the psychological suspense hype and all of the good reviews and kept thinking it was going to get better. Nope! When their father kicks them out of their house (that they have trashed) and tells them to get jobs (they are adults), I stood up and cheered! But I got the feeling I was suppose to see how mean their father was and how awful he treated them and this was a major catalyst to the tragedy that follows. Although to be fair the writing was pretty solid, I just could not sympathize with the characters. There was a plot twist in the end but by that time I could only think, "I am sorry I spent this time with you, and I am so glad you are not my neighbors!" Oh, and the poison tree...there are a few paragraphs that talk about it, one was growing in their back yard, don't eat the leaves, any other connection was lost on me. Was it a metaphor for Biba or the whole book, either one-stay away!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2024
This was not as good as ‘He Said She Said’ which I really enjoyed. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters especially Biba who totally self centred and a selfish cow! I got bored of the constant hinting at things and the blow by blow account of events leading up to the shooting. When that finally happened it was a major anticlimax. An ok read and no more than that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2012
At the very beginning of this book, the reader learns that Karen is picking up her husband, Rex, who just served a 10-year term for murder. In the car with her is their daughter, Alice. The story unfolds with alternating chapters: present day and the summer ten years ago when the murder took place. Present day: Karen and Rex attempting to adjust to their new life and problems such as pesky journalists, Rex' s learning about the modern world outside and trying to find work, living in a small house, and trying to parent their child together. Summer ten years ago: Karen just graduated from college and met Rex and his sister, Biba, who are living a crazy Bohemian life together in a strange mansion in London. Karen falls in love with both Rex and Biba and they party with drugs and alcohol all summer till something bad happens which lands Rex in the slammer.
How could I have stopped reading half-way through the book before I discovered the horrible crime? Did you ever hear someone take so long to set up a joke that you lost interest before the punchline was delivered? That's how I felt about this book. I just got tired of all these hints and build-ups to some horrific crime or accident and decided I had spent enough time with these characters. Sorry I spent as much time as I did.
This book once again reminds me that you can have the best story in the world, but unless the story-teller captivates you, it won't matter. The reverse is also true: a good story teller can tell a story about nothing and it will be a great success. Look no further than "Seinfeld" for proof of this.
How could I have stopped reading half-way through the book before I discovered the horrible crime? Did you ever hear someone take so long to set up a joke that you lost interest before the punchline was delivered? That's how I felt about this book. I just got tired of all these hints and build-ups to some horrific crime or accident and decided I had spent enough time with these characters. Sorry I spent as much time as I did.
This book once again reminds me that you can have the best story in the world, but unless the story-teller captivates you, it won't matter. The reverse is also true: a good story teller can tell a story about nothing and it will be a great success. Look no further than "Seinfeld" for proof of this.
July 23, 2016
Naïve Karen. Hedonistic Biba. Respsonsible Rex. One long hot summer. Two dead bodies. A life time of secrets.
The Poison Tree is narrated by Karen, both in the past and present. A decade earlier, she’s sensibly coming to the end of her degree when she meets the exotic Biba and her brother Rex. Mesmerised by Biba, Karen is seduced into a bohemian summer of love, drugs and parties in an old crumbling mansion. Feeling free for the first time in her life, she embraces her new experiences, becoming embroiled in the secrets of Biba and Rex’s estranged family. The summer comes to a sudden and shocking end when Rex is charged with double murder. In the present-day, Rex is released from prison after ten years and tentatively embarks on a normal life with Karen and their daughter Alice.
But who died, and why? In a prologue set in the dead of night, why does Karen flee from their home? Who's been watching them? And what has Karen been hiding for all these years?
This is an atmospheric and alluring read, with tantalising hints and clues to all the dark secrets, but with twists you’ll never see coming. There’s an impending sense of doom as the three main characters develop and entwine; although the plot had me second-guessing, it’s Karen, Biba and Rex who drive this story forward, who give it its heart and soul. An evocative, haunting, beautifully told story; I loved it!
The Poison Tree is narrated by Karen, both in the past and present. A decade earlier, she’s sensibly coming to the end of her degree when she meets the exotic Biba and her brother Rex. Mesmerised by Biba, Karen is seduced into a bohemian summer of love, drugs and parties in an old crumbling mansion. Feeling free for the first time in her life, she embraces her new experiences, becoming embroiled in the secrets of Biba and Rex’s estranged family. The summer comes to a sudden and shocking end when Rex is charged with double murder. In the present-day, Rex is released from prison after ten years and tentatively embarks on a normal life with Karen and their daughter Alice.
But who died, and why? In a prologue set in the dead of night, why does Karen flee from their home? Who's been watching them? And what has Karen been hiding for all these years?
This is an atmospheric and alluring read, with tantalising hints and clues to all the dark secrets, but with twists you’ll never see coming. There’s an impending sense of doom as the three main characters develop and entwine; although the plot had me second-guessing, it’s Karen, Biba and Rex who drive this story forward, who give it its heart and soul. An evocative, haunting, beautifully told story; I loved it!
July 19, 2024
2.5 stars. Kelly's debut novel is a slow burn, so slow that if this had not been part of my summer challenge, I might not have finished it. Karen seems to be a very normal person with a linguistic talent who meets siblings Biba and Rex Capel in the summer of 1997 as she has finished college. She is immediately attracted to Biba and her bohemian lifestyle and eventually moves in with them never realizing that by the end of the summer, life will never be the same again.
The story is narrated by Karen as she looks back at what unfolded 10 years previously and the chapters alternate between the summer of 1997 and her current life in 2007. Although I figured out before the reveal of the "big" secret that is often referred to, I must admit I did not see that last twist coming and it seemed very out of character.
I never quite got the obsession with Biba, I found her to be an unlikable character
The story is narrated by Karen as she looks back at what unfolded 10 years previously and the chapters alternate between the summer of 1997 and her current life in 2007. Although I figured out before the reveal of the "big" secret that is often referred to, I must admit I did not see that last twist coming and it seemed very out of character.
I never quite got the obsession with Biba, I found her to be an unlikable character
June 25, 2017
Erin Kelly’s debut psychological thriller of 2011, The Poison Tree, has often been cited as an example of a novel that readers respond strongly to and it has drawn a huge cross-section of reviews right across the board. Having enjoyed The Burning Air and intrigued to discover just why The Poison Rose seems to polarise readers, I dived into this one. The novel opens with Karen and her nine-year-old daughter, Alice, collecting husband and father, Rex, from a ten-year stint behind bars for manslaughter. As they drive home they detour to Highgate and cannot resist a moment of contemplation outside the formerly rambling and dilapidated home that witnessed Rex’s fall from grace. Flashback to the heady summer of 1997 when New Labour rose to power and the world felt full of possibilities for the young graduates at Queen Charlotte’s College and meet gauche seventeen-year-old, Karen Clarke. Fluent in a handful of languages and having passed an unremarkable four-years studying for a degree, even her dad thinks she is old before her time. Seeming to have gone from being sheltered throughout her school education she has blended into the background and found herself thrown together with a group of dreary girls all with their eyes on the bigger picture of marrying well. Yet for Karen her degree is just another qualification to add to her many and she is discombobulated by the enforced change that graduating presents. Undecided on her future she meets twenty-one-year-old drama student, Biba Capel, an effusive and bewitching breath of fresh air into her sterile world. Agreeing to tutor Biba in mastering the German accent, she is swept up into the hedonistic world she occupies and like a teenager in the midst of first love, she falls hard. As the long summer holidays loom, Karen takes her dad’s advice and has one final carefree summer as she moves into the ramshackle property that is home to Biba and her older brother, twenty-four-year old Rex and enters into their debauched world. However, that summer ends with the trio’s lives being changed forever and two people dead. Segueing effortlessly between the decades, melodrama is in no short supply all contributing to give the novel an angst ridden feel to the whole thing as the two narratives develop in parallel.
I had a remarkably mixed reaction to The Poison Tree and for much of this novel I felt like I this was a reading a slightly different version of a story that I have previously read time and again. It is unoriginal, yes, but perhaps what makes it even more disappointing is that for a good three-quarters of the novel the plot follows an almost embarrassingly predictable course with a cast of awful stereotypes. There are few surprises as the plot heads down the familiar road of naive and gullible, Karen Clarke’s head being turned as she is drawn into the vastly different lifestyle of the Capel siblings. Dogsbody and provider of funds seems to sum Karen’s position up, but it is also the first time that she feels at home and welcomed into a social clique. For once Karen ‘fits’ and seems to have found her place amongst a like mindset, but she is wilfully blind to her obvious position as a pawn being employed in a incestuously close game of sibling affection. It is hard not to think that Karen is simply too young and has merely followed the path of least resistance and met her parents expectations and hence doesn’t have the wherewithal to handle what she quickly becomes embroiled in. Despite my reservations, however the double whammy of twists does deliver and is well worth waiting to see play out.
The plot covers the well-trodden ground of a middle-class teenager becoming the first person in the the family to have the privilege of entering higher education and the weight of expectations. Prodigious Karen is a naturally gifted linguist, sometime to whom the skill comes effortlessly and the natural course is to do her parents proud and achieve great things. Karen herself is effectively a caricatured from her sycophantic fascination with the Capel siblings to her utter lack of backbone and the speed with which she forgets her working class parents and cringes at everything from their Midlands twang, their annual holidays right through to their reading of the newspaper ridiculed by liberals. The narrative is seen through the perspective of Karen with ten years separating the periods and in this sense readers will see how the events have impacted on Karen’s attitude and solidified into a fervid desire to protect her new and remarkably fragile family. Written in ludicrously pretentious prose, Erin Kelly guilty of attempting to demonstrate her mastery of the English language flowery language. Grandiose language does not always translate into a powerful narrative and and the effect here is to detract from the valid points that this union calls into question The Poison Tree is remarkably reminiscent of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and having had a similar response to that novel I have concluded that much of my antipathy towards these novels which show the very different worlds of the upper class, responsibility shunning young adults colliding with the ‘awkward lower classes’ in higher education, stems from my own personal experiences. Worth reading if only for the final twists which surprised me immensely.
I had a remarkably mixed reaction to The Poison Tree and for much of this novel I felt like I this was a reading a slightly different version of a story that I have previously read time and again. It is unoriginal, yes, but perhaps what makes it even more disappointing is that for a good three-quarters of the novel the plot follows an almost embarrassingly predictable course with a cast of awful stereotypes. There are few surprises as the plot heads down the familiar road of naive and gullible, Karen Clarke’s head being turned as she is drawn into the vastly different lifestyle of the Capel siblings. Dogsbody and provider of funds seems to sum Karen’s position up, but it is also the first time that she feels at home and welcomed into a social clique. For once Karen ‘fits’ and seems to have found her place amongst a like mindset, but she is wilfully blind to her obvious position as a pawn being employed in a incestuously close game of sibling affection. It is hard not to think that Karen is simply too young and has merely followed the path of least resistance and met her parents expectations and hence doesn’t have the wherewithal to handle what she quickly becomes embroiled in. Despite my reservations, however the double whammy of twists does deliver and is well worth waiting to see play out.
The plot covers the well-trodden ground of a middle-class teenager becoming the first person in the the family to have the privilege of entering higher education and the weight of expectations. Prodigious Karen is a naturally gifted linguist, sometime to whom the skill comes effortlessly and the natural course is to do her parents proud and achieve great things. Karen herself is effectively a caricatured from her sycophantic fascination with the Capel siblings to her utter lack of backbone and the speed with which she forgets her working class parents and cringes at everything from their Midlands twang, their annual holidays right through to their reading of the newspaper ridiculed by liberals. The narrative is seen through the perspective of Karen with ten years separating the periods and in this sense readers will see how the events have impacted on Karen’s attitude and solidified into a fervid desire to protect her new and remarkably fragile family. Written in ludicrously pretentious prose, Erin Kelly guilty of attempting to demonstrate her mastery of the English language flowery language. Grandiose language does not always translate into a powerful narrative and and the effect here is to detract from the valid points that this union calls into question The Poison Tree is remarkably reminiscent of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and having had a similar response to that novel I have concluded that much of my antipathy towards these novels which show the very different worlds of the upper class, responsibility shunning young adults colliding with the ‘awkward lower classes’ in higher education, stems from my own personal experiences. Worth reading if only for the final twists which surprised me immensely.
December 12, 2015
BU YORUM HUNHARCA DEVRİK CÜMLE VE İMLA HATASI BULUNDURUR.
Ben bu kitabı okurken diyordum ki eh idare eder üç puanlık bir kitap...
DURUN!!
100 sayfa geçince ben bütün karakterlere ısınmaz mıyım?!?!? Plot twist üzerine plot twistten ölmez miyim!?!?! Yazarın diline aşık olmaz mıyım?!?!? Stephen King'in dediği kadar olan bir kitap... Şu an kafam iyi değil daha yeni bitirdim ama o son... Pegasus Yayınlarına da cömertliği ve gönderdiği için teşekkürler... Tur için olduğu için kesin kötü olur diyodum... Göte geldim allahım aşık oldum bu ne?!?
Ben bu kitabı okurken diyordum ki eh idare eder üç puanlık bir kitap...
DURUN!!
100 sayfa geçince ben bütün karakterlere ısınmaz mıyım?!?!? Plot twist üzerine plot twistten ölmez miyim!?!?! Yazarın diline aşık olmaz mıyım?!?!? Stephen King'in dediği kadar olan bir kitap... Şu an kafam iyi değil daha yeni bitirdim ama o son... Pegasus Yayınlarına da cömertliği ve gönderdiği için teşekkürler... Tur için olduğu için kesin kötü olur diyodum... Göte geldim allahım aşık oldum bu ne?!?
July 11, 2025
Been reading this on holiday and I simply could not put it down. Erin Kelly draws you in with elegant prose and a creeping sense of unease that builds beautifully throughout the story. What starts as a slow burn quickly becomes something far darker and more addictive. The plot twist was completely unexpected it made me rethink everything I’d read up to that point.
Karen’s infatuation with the bohemian and magnetic Biba, as well as her brooding brother Rex, is both fascinating and unsettling. Their unconventional lifestyle, coupled with Karen’s increasing entanglement, creates a sense of impending doom that keeps the tension high. The messy family dynamics, emotional chaos, and blurred moral lines make for a gripping psychological drama.
. The atmosphere is rich, the characters are complex, and the story lingers long after the final page. If you're looking for a moody, character-driven thriller with a killer twist, this is a perfect holiday read that will completely consume you.
Karen’s infatuation with the bohemian and magnetic Biba, as well as her brooding brother Rex, is both fascinating and unsettling. Their unconventional lifestyle, coupled with Karen’s increasing entanglement, creates a sense of impending doom that keeps the tension high. The messy family dynamics, emotional chaos, and blurred moral lines make for a gripping psychological drama.
. The atmosphere is rich, the characters are complex, and the story lingers long after the final page. If you're looking for a moody, character-driven thriller with a killer twist, this is a perfect holiday read that will completely consume you.
April 15, 2019
The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly is an incredibly slow-burn thriller. All of the characters are unlikable and full of secretive lies. The story in intriguing for sure but it took a long time to get to the thrilling parts. I will say that Erin Kelly excelled at building the suspense and anticipation but at the same time, I would have liked the plot to move at a little bit faster pace.
March 27, 2021
Sometimes I really crave a slow-burning, character study of family secrets and relationships, and Erin Kelly does this so well! Whilst HE SAID / SHE SAID remains my all-time favourite by this author, I really enjoyed her portrayal of the friendships in THE POISON TREE.
One thing I love about Erin Kelly’s writing is the languid way in which she builds her spider’s web of growing tension that gradually entangles the reader and holds them in its spell. Just as Karen, the straight-A student and only child of conservative parents gradually falls under the spell of the bohemian Capel siblings and their rambling, tumble down English mansion. I could easily picture straight and slightly awkward Karen being bewitched by the outgoing siblings whose free and easy lifestyle must feel totally alien and enchanting to her. Biba Capel is the sort of character who blazes into people’s lives like a bright comet of destruction, dazzling them with her light but in the end only leaving smoking ruins behind. Rex, who is more subdued and stable than his sister, holds his own allure as the brooding, overprotective male counterpart to his vivacious sibling.
Despite the slow build-up, Kelly makes it very clear that nothing good can come from these dynamics. And whilst I did predict a major part of the “twist” (I read A LOT of these mysteries), I was still invested to watch the slow descend into disaster as both Karen and Rex act as if remote-controlled by Biba’s destructive hand. I love a good character study, and the way poor Karen gets drawn into the Capel siblings’ world was well executed. I related to some of Karen’s fascination with the Capel’s lives – “straight A student falls for more exciting personalities” is a theme that really does play out in real life. A wonderful premise for a novel that is part character study and part domestic thriller and will undoubtedly stun some readers with its twist.
All in all, THE POISON TREE should probably be avoided by readers who don’t enjoy a slow-burning mystery, because their attention may wane in the first half, when the interpersonal dynamics are being set up. However, lovers of a good character study will appreciate the way Kelly builds her characters’ relationships that ultimately lead to disaster. I felt like I was watching a train chugga-chugg towards the abyss, unable to stop it as it built momentum with its unsuspecting passengers still dazzled by Biba’s light. A well-written story simmering with an undercurrent of tension and menace. I look forward to reading more from this author in future!
3.5 stars
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One thing I love about Erin Kelly’s writing is the languid way in which she builds her spider’s web of growing tension that gradually entangles the reader and holds them in its spell. Just as Karen, the straight-A student and only child of conservative parents gradually falls under the spell of the bohemian Capel siblings and their rambling, tumble down English mansion. I could easily picture straight and slightly awkward Karen being bewitched by the outgoing siblings whose free and easy lifestyle must feel totally alien and enchanting to her. Biba Capel is the sort of character who blazes into people’s lives like a bright comet of destruction, dazzling them with her light but in the end only leaving smoking ruins behind. Rex, who is more subdued and stable than his sister, holds his own allure as the brooding, overprotective male counterpart to his vivacious sibling.
Despite the slow build-up, Kelly makes it very clear that nothing good can come from these dynamics. And whilst I did predict a major part of the “twist” (I read A LOT of these mysteries), I was still invested to watch the slow descend into disaster as both Karen and Rex act as if remote-controlled by Biba’s destructive hand. I love a good character study, and the way poor Karen gets drawn into the Capel siblings’ world was well executed. I related to some of Karen’s fascination with the Capel’s lives – “straight A student falls for more exciting personalities” is a theme that really does play out in real life. A wonderful premise for a novel that is part character study and part domestic thriller and will undoubtedly stun some readers with its twist.
All in all, THE POISON TREE should probably be avoided by readers who don’t enjoy a slow-burning mystery, because their attention may wane in the first half, when the interpersonal dynamics are being set up. However, lovers of a good character study will appreciate the way Kelly builds her characters’ relationships that ultimately lead to disaster. I felt like I was watching a train chugga-chugg towards the abyss, unable to stop it as it built momentum with its unsuspecting passengers still dazzled by Biba’s light. A well-written story simmering with an undercurrent of tension and menace. I look forward to reading more from this author in future!
3.5 stars
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March 2, 2011
Erin Kelly's Poison Tree is publicized as a "tight psychological thriller". I'd drop the word thriller as this denotes to me a more fast paced tempo than is the case here. I'd read it alone for its in depth psychological character study. Erin Kelly gets this just right. Beginning at the end, the story flashes backwards and forwards in a space of ten years, rapidly and without warning, and yet it is easy to follow. I quickly became engrossed with the three main characters, Karen, Biba and Rex. I became a part of their lives, becoming a friend, even though I knew this was fiction. That's how powerful Kelly portrays each. You know these people, what makes them tick, and yet just as in real life, what they do might still surprise you.
If this is not enough, the story is believable and satisfyingly justifiable; well thought out. It left me with things to think about, yet again, in my life long quest to understand the relationships of life; family, friends, lovers.
I'm going to recommend this to all my Tana French, Sara Waters and Morag Joss reading friends.
If this is not enough, the story is believable and satisfyingly justifiable; well thought out. It left me with things to think about, yet again, in my life long quest to understand the relationships of life; family, friends, lovers.
I'm going to recommend this to all my Tana French, Sara Waters and Morag Joss reading friends.
June 16, 2012
This is one of those books where everything in the first half is all portentous foreshadowing--the characters living out the consequences of some unimaginable past horror only hinted at in passing (but set in, you know, the bohemian London world of a second-tier university of the late 90s; it was a terrible time before cell phones). This narrative style totally can work (e.g., The House at Riverton by Kate Morton, although I can't stomach any of her other work), but, in the end, with such a limited number of poorly-developed and, essentially, blank characters, it's very easy to see where everything is headed. And where that is is trite and fairly contrived. The book also suffers from competing identities; it can't quite decide whether it wants to be a mystery, a suspense thriller, or highbrow contemporary literary fiction, and, in the end, it serves none of these genres well. Unsatisfying overall, with a "twist" ending you can see coming a mile away. . . . *snooze*
March 22, 2021
2.5 rounded down
This was a slow burn, with a very big emphasis on sloooowww. The author kept alluding to what happened that day, but it didn't really raise my curiosity, it just kind of bugged me and made the story drag on more.
I did enjoy the ending, but still going to be a 2.5 rounded down for me.
This was a slow burn, with a very big emphasis on sloooowww. The author kept alluding to what happened that day, but it didn't really raise my curiosity, it just kind of bugged me and made the story drag on more.
I did enjoy the ending, but still going to be a 2.5 rounded down for me.
October 16, 2018
This is the first book I have read by this author, and I was impressed by the author's insight into her characters. Karen is just out of her final university year and agrees to house sit for her current room mates over the summer, all the time knowing she must find another place to live before the fall. She is in the student commons one day when she meets Biba (Bathsheba) Capal posting an ad for a temporary German tutor for a play she will be acting in over the summer. Because Biba is a free spirit and charismatic, Karen agrees to move into her and her brother Rex's home at the edge of Queen's Wood without letting her room mates know she will be overseeing their home while living with Biba and Rex. She finds herself in a totally different world from the one she knows from before. Karen finds herself smoking marijuana, drinking and basically just steeping herself in the Capals' world. However, she does not know at first that the Capal siblings' mother had committed suicide a few years before, and that their father, Roger, has remarried and has children with his new wife, Jules. It says a lot about the Capal family that Roger has moved to a mansion with Jules, leaving his two almost grown children in Queen's Row where he used to live. He has never even had either of the siblings over to meet his new wife and half siblings. However, at some point, Rex goes to see Roger, and there is some hope for a future meeting and reconciliation, with Roger signing the Queen's Row house over to Rex, who has never even held a job. Biba is studying hard to be an actress, and Rex seems to exist day to day while he and Karen become romantically involved. Biba has a temporary boyfriend named Guy, and being the 'free spirit' she is, soon tires of being around him. Although all three of the temporary housemates have a positive outlook on the future, it is not be be. By the end of the summer, Roger is sentenced to ten years in prison for murder and manslaughter and Biba disappears. Karen, meanwhile, moves back to her former home. The next thing the reader notes is that Karen and ten year old Alice are picking Roger up from prison, and they are all trying to live as a family. Meanwhile, there are other twists to the plot, leading up to the shocking ending. I was very impressed by this book. This author knows how to tell a story!
December 15, 2011
“Brilliant!” “A beautifully crafted, evocative psychological thriller.” “Dark and gripping.” Just some of the words used to describe this novel. After reading the book, I totally disagree. Long-winded and mundane is how I describe it.
The story revolves around three main individuals, Karen, Biba and Rex – all of whom I thought were lifeless and quite mundane -- an odd bunch of characters all living under one roof. I thought Karen’s attraction to someone like Biba to be atypical. Yes, perhaps when they both first met, as Biba is the complete opposite of Karen; however, for Karen’s feelings to grow for Biba, even after observing Biba’s behaviour, doesn’t ring possible for me. Karen is an intelligent, kind, giving person; a gifted student and linguist who is destined for great success. She’s loved and supported by her parents. Biba and her brother, Rex, only have each other, both of whom rely on the fact that they will always be there for each other. Biba is self-absorbed, a narcissist, a person who only cares about herself. She doesn’t care about what others think, nor does she care about what havoc she brings with her or the consequences that follow. She says she cares and depends on Rex, that he is her rock. However, it is at a critical turning point that we witness her true colours, her selfishness and lack of care and love for others.
Rex is Biba’s older brother and guardian, who also becomes Karen’s lover, falling head-over-heels for her. Once again, I don’t understand Karen’s attraction to Rex. He’s a layabout who’s never held a job, always cleans up Biba’s mess, is so unassertive and feeble, and who always lets Biba have her way. He’s obsessed with only thoughts of Biba if he doesn’t know where she is or when she’s coming back, ignoring everything and everyone around him. Everything about their sibling relationship struck me as quite odd.
As for the story itself, it is told by Karen, and jumps back and forth from past to present. Usually books written between different time periods are broken down chapter-by-chapter, which the author does. However, she also jumps back and forth within the same chapter, even jumping from one paragraph to the next, which certainly doesn’t make for a smooth transition or easy read.
Throughout the novel, I had to keep reminding myself that the past story actually took place in 1997. It is because of the author’s detailed descriptions of Biba and Rex, how they lived, behaved and socialized that made me think the story took place in the mid-1960s – the hippie era.
I’m not going to recommend this book; at the same time I’m not going to say don’t read it. I’m actually surprised that I finished the novel as I found the story moved at a slow pace -- unable to hold my attention as it took me quite a while to finish it. I’m just glad it’s over.
The story revolves around three main individuals, Karen, Biba and Rex – all of whom I thought were lifeless and quite mundane -- an odd bunch of characters all living under one roof. I thought Karen’s attraction to someone like Biba to be atypical. Yes, perhaps when they both first met, as Biba is the complete opposite of Karen; however, for Karen’s feelings to grow for Biba, even after observing Biba’s behaviour, doesn’t ring possible for me. Karen is an intelligent, kind, giving person; a gifted student and linguist who is destined for great success. She’s loved and supported by her parents. Biba and her brother, Rex, only have each other, both of whom rely on the fact that they will always be there for each other. Biba is self-absorbed, a narcissist, a person who only cares about herself. She doesn’t care about what others think, nor does she care about what havoc she brings with her or the consequences that follow. She says she cares and depends on Rex, that he is her rock. However, it is at a critical turning point that we witness her true colours, her selfishness and lack of care and love for others.
Rex is Biba’s older brother and guardian, who also becomes Karen’s lover, falling head-over-heels for her. Once again, I don’t understand Karen’s attraction to Rex. He’s a layabout who’s never held a job, always cleans up Biba’s mess, is so unassertive and feeble, and who always lets Biba have her way. He’s obsessed with only thoughts of Biba if he doesn’t know where she is or when she’s coming back, ignoring everything and everyone around him. Everything about their sibling relationship struck me as quite odd.
As for the story itself, it is told by Karen, and jumps back and forth from past to present. Usually books written between different time periods are broken down chapter-by-chapter, which the author does. However, she also jumps back and forth within the same chapter, even jumping from one paragraph to the next, which certainly doesn’t make for a smooth transition or easy read.
Throughout the novel, I had to keep reminding myself that the past story actually took place in 1997. It is because of the author’s detailed descriptions of Biba and Rex, how they lived, behaved and socialized that made me think the story took place in the mid-1960s – the hippie era.
I’m not going to recommend this book; at the same time I’m not going to say don’t read it. I’m actually surprised that I finished the novel as I found the story moved at a slow pace -- unable to hold my attention as it took me quite a while to finish it. I’m just glad it’s over.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2017
The noise of the city falls away as we enter the secret sliver of wild wood, where the ancient trees muffle the sirens and the screeches of the street and the half-hidden houses occupy a dark green private universe, cushioned by money....
Released after serving ten years in jail for murder, Rex is trying to rebuild his life with Karen and their young daughter Annie. But who is making the phone calls and watching them, or him, or is it her?
The book switches between the present (written in present tense) and the events of that summer when linguistics student Karen was drawn into the bohemian life of Biba and her brother Rex (written in the past tense).
Oh dear. After raving about Erin Kelly's fourth book (The Ties That Bind), which held my attention from page 1, this her debut novel (The Poison Tree) I have picked up and put down so many times, and after page 97 I gave it away.
Released after serving ten years in jail for murder, Rex is trying to rebuild his life with Karen and their young daughter Annie. But who is making the phone calls and watching them, or him, or is it her?
The book switches between the present (written in present tense) and the events of that summer when linguistics student Karen was drawn into the bohemian life of Biba and her brother Rex (written in the past tense).
Oh dear. After raving about Erin Kelly's fourth book (The Ties That Bind), which held my attention from page 1, this her debut novel (The Poison Tree) I have picked up and put down so many times, and after page 97 I gave it away.
October 3, 2018
Very happy to finally be finished with this book.
I swear, I think it actually came close to boring me to death.
I swear, I think it actually came close to boring me to death.
May 16, 2022
The Poison Tree
Al principio no le encontraba lo misterioso/thriller. Básicamente leía la vida de una chica que estudiaba lenguajes en dos momentos de su vida, como Universitaria de Lenguas y como se hace amiga de una actriz , y por otro su vida de madre y la llegada de su esposo a casa tras años de ser “madre soltera”. Y esta entretenido leer esa parte, pero no tiene esa emoción de la intriga de un thriller, y de repente ya por el final ZAS, te llega el golpe, y sigue, y sigue. Bastante efectiva esa parte, creo que cierra muy bien el libro, y darle sentido a toda la historia que te cuentan antes.
reto posugar 25. Un libro sobre un secreto.
3.5 stars
SPOILER
Al principio no le encontraba lo misterioso/thriller. Básicamente leía la vida de una chica que estudiaba lenguajes en dos momentos de su vida, como Universitaria de Lenguas y como se hace amiga de una actriz , y por otro su vida de madre y la llegada de su esposo a casa tras años de ser “madre soltera”. Y esta entretenido leer esa parte, pero no tiene esa emoción de la intriga de un thriller, y de repente ya por el final ZAS, te llega el golpe, y sigue, y sigue. Bastante efectiva esa parte, creo que cierra muy bien el libro, y darle sentido a toda la historia que te cuentan antes.
reto posugar 25. Un libro sobre un secreto.
3.5 stars
SPOILER
February 18, 2025
3.5 stars
I'm going to lay it out there...this book was so slow at the beginning that it was almost a dnf. BUT I'm so glad I kept going as the ending was mindblowing in the best possible way. I didn't see it coming! Nicely done ✔️ 👏
The plot has two timelines - present day in which Rex, after spending 10 years in prison, is just released on parole and adapting to life having moved in with his partner Karen and their 10 year old daughter Alice. 10 years ago, the summer after Karen graduated from uni and has just met Biba, Rex's sister. She becomes enamored with the brother and sister duo, which changes her life in ways she never fathomed.
After finishing the book, I needed some time to digest it. It was incredibly thought-provoking. There was much to process. It would make for an interesting book club discussion.
I'm going to lay it out there...this book was so slow at the beginning that it was almost a dnf. BUT I'm so glad I kept going as the ending was mindblowing in the best possible way. I didn't see it coming! Nicely done ✔️ 👏
The plot has two timelines - present day in which Rex, after spending 10 years in prison, is just released on parole and adapting to life having moved in with his partner Karen and their 10 year old daughter Alice. 10 years ago, the summer after Karen graduated from uni and has just met Biba, Rex's sister. She becomes enamored with the brother and sister duo, which changes her life in ways she never fathomed.
After finishing the book, I needed some time to digest it. It was incredibly thought-provoking. There was much to process. It would make for an interesting book club discussion.
November 1, 2025
I feel like I wasted my whole day finishing this book. I’m so confused?! I feel like there was no proper storyline in this book and nothing really happened until the last maybe 10 pages. I didn’t like any of the characters at all - maybe Karen? I didn’t like Biba at all. So disappointed🫣 but can’t wait to discuss tomorrow at Book Club!
November 1, 2025
What the bloody good god did I read??? 1 star purely for the fact I finished this book!
August 21, 2011
In The Poison Tree, Erin Kelly creates an assortment of compelling and convincing characters.
A year into her university degree, studious linguist Karen Clarke, the sensible and conservative narrator of the story, finds herself drawn into the chaotic and bohemian world of vivacious but self centred wannabe actress Biba Capel and her over protective brother Rex who live on their own in a ramshackle house in London following abandonment by their famous photographer father and the resulting suicide of their mother.
As Karen turns increasingly away from her studies to spend more and more time at the house next to Queen's Wood with its laissez faire cocktail of drinking, recreational drug taking and endless parties, she unwittingly becomes embroiled in a fatal tragedy which will change the course of all of their lives forever.
I loved the beautifully descriptive and poetic style of the narrative and the way it begins in the present and slowly reveals everything that has led up to this moment culminating with its twist at the end (although I must admit, I did see this coming a couple of chapters or so beforehand).
Biba is one of the most captivating and colourful characters I have come across in literature - I would even go so far as to compare her with Becky Sharpe in Vanity Fair, so without Kelly's successful narrator development, protagonist Karen could have appeared lifeless and dull next to her dramatic glamorous friend. However, through Karen's eyes, and the subtle development of the plot, the book held me entranced until the final page.
A year into her university degree, studious linguist Karen Clarke, the sensible and conservative narrator of the story, finds herself drawn into the chaotic and bohemian world of vivacious but self centred wannabe actress Biba Capel and her over protective brother Rex who live on their own in a ramshackle house in London following abandonment by their famous photographer father and the resulting suicide of their mother.
As Karen turns increasingly away from her studies to spend more and more time at the house next to Queen's Wood with its laissez faire cocktail of drinking, recreational drug taking and endless parties, she unwittingly becomes embroiled in a fatal tragedy which will change the course of all of their lives forever.
I loved the beautifully descriptive and poetic style of the narrative and the way it begins in the present and slowly reveals everything that has led up to this moment culminating with its twist at the end (although I must admit, I did see this coming a couple of chapters or so beforehand).
Biba is one of the most captivating and colourful characters I have come across in literature - I would even go so far as to compare her with Becky Sharpe in Vanity Fair, so without Kelly's successful narrator development, protagonist Karen could have appeared lifeless and dull next to her dramatic glamorous friend. However, through Karen's eyes, and the subtle development of the plot, the book held me entranced until the final page.
August 24, 2014
This wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't a particularly good one either.
Most of the book I found a little tedious, but then the last chapter takes off, and before I knew it I was finished and left feeling "so that's it?"
The story goes back and forth between the present and the events that happened ten years ago. I had difficulty throughout the book figuring out where I was. The formatting in the e-book edition I read was a nightmare. All the lines were double spaced so it was difficult to tell where paragraphs started and finished. On quite a few occasions sentences within a chapter would finish mid-line and the new sentence would take me to a different time. Very confusing, to say the least.
None of the characters were particularly likable. Bibi came across as selfish and self-centered and her brother Rex irritated me no end and Karen was just...bland.
A little disappointing.
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