There were two times when some “force” seemed to protect Anna when she encountered danger. Sorry I don’t recall details and am on vacation and away from the book BUT who or what frightened and grabbed the policeman who was harassing Anna? He eventually died. THEN who or what frightened the weird journalist/ghost hunter which led to his demise over the cliff? Did the author explain these incidents at the end? If so, I missed details. What or who did you think was behind Anna?
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Hey @NanK - Good question. I think this was an interesting aspect of the book. It’s like the author was trying to write in some supernatural elements without really making it a supernatural book. One of the possible killers was this entity, either directly or by how it influenced Anna. The author didn’t say why the first police officer was spooked, and explained his death by his tripping & hitting his head on a rock. The podcaster, again, no indication of what spooked him. So yeah, I’m not remembering an explanation for that particular red herring!
NIck. He put a tracker in her car. He was worried about her, partly because he know who she was and partly because he loves her.
But who spooked the policeman and podcaster? Maybe we’re just meant to speculate.
I think you’re right and it’s possible the author didn’t fully commit to the supernatural idea so it leaves the reader speculating more. I think for the incorporation of the supernatural elements to work more, they needed to be better woven into Anna’s background.
Yes, I think we are led to believe that there are some supernatural forces at work here, and I didn’t mind that those two characters’ deaths were somewhat mysterious. Added to the mystery overall.
Anna had every right to be worried about herself if one analyzes each occurrence in the book. She saw herself as being different from her mother and father, but when she felt someone was suffering an inequity she wanted to help maybe even killing to right that wrong.
There seemed to be a host of individuals who protected Anna. Her father, by teaching her about the forest gave her extraordinary survival skills. Nick tried but didn’t really understand how to protect her—but then, he had his own issues that involved Anna’s father. I think her boss tried to protect her by giving her freedom to act.
A good argument can be made that she was protected by the forest and its god also. So often people experience the presence of a higher intervention. We can call it fate, or God, or something else perhaps unknown. The world is a complicated place, and people have relied on various gods throughout history. Belief itself can be powerful. This question fascinated me, because we really just don’t know what unseen forces there might be.