Jul 25

Jul 25 The Vaster Wilds

Author: Lauren Groff
Publisher: Riverhead
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

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.

TL;DR Review

The Vaster Wilds is another work of genius from Groff, intimate and visceral. You have to be in the mood for a book like this (it has almost no dialogue), but if you are, I think you’ll love it.

For you if: You like to be thrust deep, deep inside a character’s head (and have a particular love for incredible sentences).

Full Review

“Swifter, girl, she told herself, and in their fear and anguish, her legs moved yet faster.”

I’ve only read a few of Lauren Groff’s books, but that’s all I need to know she’s one of the greats. So of course I was over the moon to get my hands on an advanced copy of The Vaster Wilds (thanks, Riverhead!). Litfic lovers: rejoice, for you will love this book. That said, I don’t think it’s going to be for everyone.

The Vaster Wilds is set in the early days of America’s colonization and is about a young servant girl fleeing the famine-torn Jamestown settlement in winter, although we don’t find out exactly why until later. We watch her fight to survive in the cold, harsh wilderness and get pieces of her backstory dripped throughout.

This book is intimate and visceral in focus but also vast and sprawling in scope. And even though it’s set in a distinct historical moment, Groff manages to make the subject matter feel timeless: womanhood (and the threats that come with it), the wonder and harshness of nature, survival at all costs. Her prose, as always, is incredible — although this time she writes in a distinct colonial-style English that takes a chapter or so to sink into, but once you do, it’s hypnotic and engrossing. (Pro tip: Don’t try to start this book in bed/laying down; the language will rock you gently to sleep!)

Fantastic as it is, you also need to be in the mood for this kind of book or you’re not going to like it. It’s very interior and atmospheric; there’s no dialogue at all except in two or three flashbacks. It is not fast-paced or plot-driven. If you’re in the mood for something to breeze through, this will not be it. But if you’re in the mood to savor a book or become immersed, it will be.