The God of the Woods Ending Explained: Spoilers on Barbara and Bear

Quick Plot Recap

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, a Fallon Book Club pick and Barack Obama book recommendation, is a fictional mystery book about the disappearance of two siblings years apart, set at an Adirondacks camp.

In The God of the Woods, 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from Camp Emerson, which her family owns, in 1975. This disappearance comes after her brother Bear’s mysterious disappearance from the camp 14 years prior and unravels deep secrets and tensions among the camp’s wealthy owners and working-class locals.

(For more, read my full review of The God of the Woods.)

The God of The Woods Ending (With Spoilers)

What Happened to Bear

The former groundskeeper and camp director Vic Hewitt revealed that Bear Van Laar was not killed by the gardener, Carl Stoddard. He drowned while he was out in the water with his mother, Alice, while she was intoxicated. Peter Van Laar II (Bear’s grandfather) had Hewitt help bury Bear’s body to protect the family name and business.

Convicted serial killer Jacob Sluiter witnessed the burial and, at the end of summer 1975, after Barbara’s disappearance and his re-capture, he gave the authorities the location of the burial, where Bear’s bones were found.

Alice Van Laar was not prosecuted for manslaughter because the statute of limitations had run, but Peter II and Peter III were charged with criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Loose Ends Tied Up

It was also revealed that Alice’s sister, Delphine, was having an affair with Alice’s husband, which contributed to their emotional distance as a married couple.

The underage counselor-in-training Annabel Southworth and Van Laar family friend John Paul McLellan began dating with the support of their parents. She provided an alibi for him on the night of Barbara’s disappearance. However, he was charged with the second-degree aggravated assault of his ex-fiance and camp counselor, Louise Donnadieu.

What Happened to Barbara

As of September 1975, Barbara was not found by the authorities, but Investigator Judyta Luptack figured out where she was—at T.J. Hewitt’s cabin on the island 50 miles north of the Van Laar Preserve. T.J. helped Barbara escape there until she turned 18 and could make her own decisions.

Judyta went there and saw Barbara. She asked Barbara if she was okay and if she wanted to be left alone, and Barbara said yes. Judyta knew that solving the disappearance would dramatically improve her career, but she intended to remain quiet out of respect for Barbara’s wishes.

Barbara is “The God of the Woods.”

The Meaning of the Ending, Explained

The God of the Woods remained an exciting book until each character’s ending was revealed. It offered me the rare and utterly delectable reading experience of simply being unable to stop. I stayed up late. I got up early. And, I devoured all 476 pages in just about two days.

The biggest mysteries uncovered were what really happened to Bear and Barbara and what those facts say about the novel’s themes:

• Class: the “haves” and the “have nots” in a small American town
• Gender: extremely nuanced, from women’s roles to their treatment, their sexuality, and beyond
• Secrets: who you keep them for and the toll of keeping them
• Survival: both literally and figuratively
• Self-Reliance: what it means both in reality and in one’s mind
• Justice: what it means, who gets it, how, and when

Additionally, so many plot twists keep you guessing along the way. They fit so neatly into the plot as it unfolds, which adds to this novel’s brilliance.

Bear’s death showed many things– first and foremost, how secrets were kept by the haves and the have-nots to protect the status of the upper-class Van Laars– even at the cost of other lower-class individuals, like Carl Stoddard. They believed they were “self-reliant,” but they were, indeed, very much not.

Alice began to feel detached and depressed before Bear’s death, and it contributed to her intoxication at the time thereof. As a woman, her true needs remained repressed and mistreated by the male Van Laars. She remained in survival mode, given her grief and regret, but there was some justice in her lack of prosecution and the prosecution of her male family members.

Also of note, Jacob Sluiter was not just a red herring in Bear’s mystery. There was irony in his helping Carl Stoddard’s family obtain justice. The Van Laars had purchased the land from his ancestors, taking what land and business was theirs and perhaps contributing to Jacob becoming what he did.

Likewise, Louise obtained some justice as a lower-class female for John Paul’s hushed mistreatment of her, but there was also so much irony in his current dating status. Cue my eye roll!

As for Barbara, she received a chance at survival and true self-reliance on her own terms, with T.J. and Judyta being strong women willing to keep her secret. While she was offered this courtesy as a young woman of a higher class, there was more justice and purpose in these women keeping this Van Laar secret this time.

Further, Judyta has still proven herself to be a competent investigator, having elicited a confession from Sluiter through such notoriously feminine skills as empathy and patience, with which her male counterparts struggled. The reader is left with the sense that she will continue to perform well and grow in her position despite her sacrifice for Barbara.

Ultimately, The God of the Woods is atmospheric and chilling not only because of its revelations about what happened to Bear and Barbara but also because of what these truths mean for the people in their lives.

Books Like The God of the Woods to Read Next

The God of the Woods is a unique book. It’s best labeled as a thrilling mystery that makes thematic statements. It’s not “just” a whodunnit or even a “whydunnit.” Two similar books I recommend to those looking for books similar to The God of the Woods are:

Long Bright River: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

The Secret History: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

Long Bright River by Liz Moore: Moore’s prior novel tackles another thrilling mystery involving a missing person. In it, an opioid-addicted Philadelphia woman and her police officer sister search for her. The novel makes statements on the opioid crisis. It’s an exceptional read that, years later, I still think about it.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: This “modern classic” dark academia novel shares an atmospheric New England setting and an immersive literary fiction writing style that is both character and plot-driven. There, a university student is “gone” “and his friends carry dark secrets as they spiral into madness in the aftermath. This is another exceptional read that, years later, I still think about.

Share Your Thoughts on the Ending

Let’s chat! What do you think about The God of the Woods ending? She your thoughts in the comments below.

remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules