I am lordly, puce and done,' – interview by Francine Elena". Prac Crit. November 2014 . Retrieved 29 September 2022. An atmospheric tale of memory and loss, movingly told through a child's eyes Sunday Express Magazine Francine Toon was raised in the Highlands, and she ably uses a setting familiar to her to create a dark, uncanny atmosphere. The novel’s title refers both to Christine��s name for her daughter (Oren, the Gaelic word for “pine”) and to the forest which surrounds the village. As in traditional fairy tales, the “trees, coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men” evoke dread but also a sense of something timeless and otherworldly. This idea is also visually conveyed in the brilliant, minimalist cover. Smith, Karl (1 December 2013). "Tome On The Range: Two Poems By: Francine Elena". The Quietus . Retrieved 29 September 2022.

If you estimated this novel to be 100,000 words, you could take out every sentence dedicated to the central mystery and only add up to 2,000 at most.The Best British Poetry 2013 By Ahren Warner". www.wob.com. World of Books . Retrieved 25 January 2023.

The result is a gripping, genre-bending book which provides plenty of thrills, supernatural and otherwise. Indeed, in the excitement of the story it’s easy to miss its subtle, realist aspects – particularly the challenges of living in a small, remote community especially if you are a young teenager raring to see the world. This novel should also be read for this. Turning to answers in tarot cards, a book her grandmother originally owned which “tells secrets and explains powers,” and an elderly woman, Vairi Grant, who was good friends with Lauren’s mom and speaks perplexingly about superstitions of the area after Ann-Marie disappears only leads Lauren to greater frustration and trepidation. However, as Lauren works her way through the maze she finds herself in and further discoveries are made in the woods, things begin to become more clear for the girl—perhaps to the reader even sooner.A) pacey horror-tinged novel ... Even with the strange and supernatural goings-on in the woods, it’s the rage and grief and darkness of grown-ups that’s the biggest mystery of all Telegraph, Best First Novels of 2020 At Sceptre, Francine was known for bringing warmth and creativity to her meticulous editorial process and for fostering strong working relationships with authors. She consistently championed under-represented voices and developed initiatives to make publishing more accessible and transparent to authors from all walks of life. Mentoring new writers was one of the most rewarding aspects of Francine’s time at Hachette. She loves nothing more than discussing a work-in-progress, from the big, thematic ideas to the minutiae of sentence structure.

I don’t know why reading something which is slightly spooky set in a cold location during the winter months is so satisfying, but it is. “Pine” takes place over the chilly months of Autumn and Winter in a remote town in the Highlands of Scotland where the community often helps each other through personal difficulties and hard times, but there are also long-held secrets, bullying villains and mysterious characters.They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he’s part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count. Cox, Roger (5 February 2020). "Book review: Pine, by Francine Toon". www.scotsman.com . Retrieved 29 September 2022. Ode to a 1980s Baton Twirling World Champion by Francine Elena". The Sunday Times. 12 July 2015 . Retrieved 25 January 2023.

Francine Toon hat, bevor sie mit "Pine" ihren ersten Roman schrieb, Preise für ihre Gedichte gewonnen. So, there we go: a range of books that I got in 2020 – save for the Scott Lynch – and do regret not reading during the year. Is regret the right word? Probably not to be honest: I do not regret the reading that I did do last year at all. But these are books that I would like to find time to catch up with this year – before prize season hits us again! The plot also has a nice mix of supernatural thriller and provincial town story. My favourite books are highly provincial (i.e. focusing on domestic, rural life with a focus on the role of nature/family in the community). It's unusual to find a book which fits this genre but is also hugely gripping. I read it in an afternoon and was hooked the whole way through. Now an editor at Sceptre, she recalls being taught about selkies at school, how they shed their sealskin to assume human form. And when you’re at the beach, a seal popping up “could easily be the head of a person”. a b McAloon, Jonathan (30 January 2020). "Francine Toon: 'Witches are empowered women' ". The Guardian . Retrieved 29 September 2022.He asked if I wanted a lift to school, saying he knew my dad,” she says. “But he didn’t say my dad’s name, and he was driving in the wrong direction to where my dad worked. Something made me say I didn’t need a lift, even though it was raining and I’d be late for school. That incident made me think about how vulnerable teenage girls can be. Especially in wilderness spaces.” In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times. It provides Scottish crime writing with recognition and aims to raise the profile and prestige of the genre as a whole. Irgendwie fühle ich mich durch dieses Buch ein bisschen hinter die Fichte geführt, um im Bild zu beiben. Lauren is a fascinating character, and very adult-like for her age. Living with an aloof, mostly uncommunicative, and frequently ill-tempered yet still loving father, she is determined to get to the root of the mysterious woman, her father’s refusal to talk about the past while he buries himself in work, and find peace and contentment with her peers. All of this proves to be a difficult task as more and more mysterious events take place—including the disappearance of sixteen-year-old Ann-Marie, a friend of Lauren’s who lives in Edinburgh where she attends boarding school but frequently comes home to visit.