Toby’s narration reveals that Ivy House is Uncle Hugo’s home, and that Toby and his cousins spent a lot of time there in their youth. Toby and Melissa move into Ivy House to take care of him. During this time, Susanna calls him to tell him that their uncle Hugo is dying of brain cancer. After he is released from the hospital, Toby spends a few months living in fear in his own apartment. The two detectives who are assigned to his case, Detectives Martin and Bannon (Bannon is exclusively referred to as “Flashy Suit” in Toby’s narration), have no leads (59).

Toby experiences serious brain damage due to the attack. When he returns to his own apartment, he is attacked by two burglars who severely beat him. After they leave the pub, Toby calls his girlfriend Melissa, but does not go over to her apartment because he worries that he might drunkenly admit what happened at work. The night in question takes place the same day that he manages to regain his boss’s favor, after a suspension which lasted four days. The narrative reveals that Toby worked in public relations at an art gallery, where he committed fraud by helping his coworker Tiernan pass his work off as that of an underprivileged 18-year-old named Gouger. After this brief introduction, Toby begins to recount one night at a pub, which he spent with his friends from high school, Sean and Declan. At this point in the narrative, readers do not know what Ivy House is, but they know that he considers himself lucky to have had it, even though his cousins advise him to forget about it. He calls his cousins, Susanna and Leon, to talk to them about Ivy House. The first chapter begins with a short monologue about Toby’s own luck. Other than the introduction, which takes place after the events of the novel, the novel follows a linear timeline. Because the novel begins with Toby in the present calling his cousins about the past, it is clear that Toby is reflecting in the present on events that have already occurred this is reflected in the tenses, as the bulk of the novel is narrated in the past tense, but begins and ends with the present tense.

The narrator, Toby Hennessy, is also the main character.

The Witch Elm takes place in Ireland, and is narrated in the first person. The following edition was used to create this study guide: French, Tana.

The witch elm a novel