Riverhead Books
The Vaster Wilds
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AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, TIME, ESQUIRE, VOGUE, LA TIMES, SLATE, HARPER'S BAZAAR and others
"Part historical, part horror, part breathless thriller, part wilderness survival tale, The Vaster Wilds is a story about the lengths to which we will go to stay alive."--NPR staff pick
"Lauren Groff just reinvented the adventure novel."--Los Angeles Times
"Glorious...surroundings come alive in prose that lives and breathes upon the page." --Boston Globe
A taut and electrifying novel from celebrated bestselling author Lauren Groff, about one spirited girl alone in the wilderness, trying to survive
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
Lauren Groff's new novel is at once a thrilling adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. The Vaster Wilds is a work of raw and prophetic power that tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history, to ask how--and if--we can adapt quickly enough to save ourselves.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9780593418390
EAN:
9780593418390
Binding:
Hardcover
Pages:
272
Authors:
Lauren Groff
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
Published Date: 2023-12-09
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Lauren Groff is a writer like no other. This astounding, heartbreaking story is like no other I've ever read. I wouldn't have minded if the story had taken a different path, in fact I wish it had. I know if she had gone a different way with it, she would have written a wonderful story, too.
Lauren Groff, a Florida writer who recently (bravely) opened a bookstore in Gainesville, FL, wrote this compelling novel about a 16th-century servant girl who escapes the fortress in Virgina and her cruel English mistress & master. She wanders in the wilderness, learns to live off the land (to fish, eat wild plants etc.) and finally builds herself a stone cottage where she lives for the rest of her life. I won't spoil with further observations!
This very complicated story of life & death reads more like an allegorical poem than a fictional book. Life, death, hope, bitterness, survival are all present. Many passages are worth highlighting for times of trial & stress in daily life. I live in the area of Jamestown, the setting of this book. Each day I walk the ground where she surely might have walked. I often marvel and wonder about the 1st settlers and the strength and despair they must have suffered. This book may well be more realistic than any of the lore we have studied and often honored.
A well written account of a short, intense life that includes all of the experiences and emotions of a soul who stays much longer. Descriptives that draw you deep into the feelings of this old child gives one those experiences on a deep level of familiarity. I will share this read with friends who appreciate good literature woven round a fascinating tale .
This was about a woman who was strong and persevered! It is a story of woman empowerment. I enjoyed this survival book.
