Berengaria's Reviews > The Vaster Wilds

4.5 stars

short review for busy readers: Unique historical adventure set against the backdrop of raw survival in the New World. Highly competently structured and written. Excellent pacing, lots of vivid nature descriptions without becoming overly detailed. Glimpses into the Powhatan civilization, 17th century English life and the early English colonies in America. Descriptions of hunting/eating wild animals for survival, disease and an instance of cannibalism (all historically accurate).

This is a story meant to be heard, not read. So *best on audio.*

in detail:
Early 1600s. Jamestown, Virginia.

"Girl," the servant of a clergyman and his family who was never asked if she wanted to go to the New World, escapes the Jamestown settlement ravaged by hunger, disease and religion-fueled cruelty after witnessing an instance of cannibalism.

Walking north to find the French she has heard have their own settlements, Girl must face not only the dangers of the wild, but also her crumbling worldview, which shatters every belief she ever accepted as true.

Traditionally, there have been 4 types of stories (man vs technology is a recent 5th):

man vs society
man vs man
man vs himself
and
man vs nature

They say this final one - man vs nature - is the hardest to write and therefore the rarest, as a novel without people or human structures is often of little interest to readers and can become quite repetitive if not handled with extraordinary care. (In literature think of Jack London's work such as To Build a Fire and in cinema, the movie "Castaway," "The Martian" or the show "Alone".)

Lauren Groff took up the challenge -- and that massively successfully. I was never once bored or found the narrative lacking in tension.

Her characterisation and feel for pacing is excellent, as she seamlessly intersperses flashbacks to Girl's life in London with the dramatic challenges of her current flight. Groff gives us an unrelenting 360° view of the 17th century life of a person with no name or importance, but who nonetheless has a depth of emotion, belief and understanding that far outstrips the people around her.

While Girl's iconoclastic thought trains may seem very modern - and some are - most are in keeping with the thoughts of English religious "crazies" of that time period, such as the Quakers, who believed so much in the equality of all people that they were often jailed or disowned for their beliefs.

The Vaster Wilds is not a happy story (view spoiler)[ and doesn't have a happy ending (hide spoiler)], but it is a beautiful story, full of the wonders, and horrors, of the natural world.

It is historical fiction, but only as flavouring. The real focus of the narrative is on our place in nature and the universe, on our relationship with all that surrounds us.

It is also one of those rare stories best heard, not read. I realised this almost half way through the print version, so if this book interests you, I'd highly suggest opting for an audio version if you can.