Wilderness Fiction

Algren’s classic 1947 short story collection is the pure vein Algren would mine for all his subsequent novels and stories. The stories in this collection are literary triumphs that “don’t fade away.” Among the stories included here are “A Bottle of Milk for Mother”, about a Chicago youth being cornered for a murder, and “The Face on the Barrome Floor”, in which a legless man pummels another man nearly to death - the seeds that would grow into the novel Never Come Morning.

Faith Allen went to live with her aunt and uncle in the Kentucky mountains after her parents died. They hadn’t been cruel, but they hadn’t been loving and kind, either; and they expected her to work hard. When their son strikes it rich in the California gold rush, they pack up to head to California via the Oregon Trail.

"If you, too, feel like wandering, come along and help me unravel this odd tale - a tale full of half-truths, whole-truths, and no-truths at all." So begins Frank Capra's never published, and often speculated about novel of his favorite place - Silver Lake, nestled in the jagged cliffs of the eastern Sierra Nevadas. Capra casts the fictional Frank Capra in the lead roll of this novel of environmental and humanitarian preservation.

Shakespeare McNair has always been happiest when living on the fringes of the frontier, ever pushing the boundaries of exploration. When an old friend tells him of a valley undisturbed by the hand of man, he just cannot resist the temptation. And so he sets off to find it with Nate King, Nate's wife, and his own wife, Blue Water Woman.

"The Wilderness Collection" presents a captivating anthology that brings together two timeless classics by Jack London: "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild." These stories delve into the primal instincts and struggles for survival in the harsh landscapes of the North American wilderness. Each tale offers a unique perspective on the bond between humans and animals, exploring themes of loyalty, courage, and the untamed spirit of the wild. Through White Fang's journey, London portrays the brutality and beauty of nature, and the transformative power of kindness.

Samuel Worth never meant to kill the man. But when the son of the plantation owner they worked for tried to attack Samuel’s daughter, he had to defend her. Now his whole family is on the run from a pack of slave hunters and their bloodhounds - straight into the deadly wilds of the Rocky Mountains. Nate King and his family value their freedoms. It is one of the reasons they chose to live so far from civilization. It’s also why Nate knows he and his wife, Winona, must use every trick at hand to help the Worth’s escape their captors - even if it costs them their own freedom.

After inheriting his uncle’s lodge, Silas Matheson hopes the grandeur of the California Sierra Nevada will be a fresh start for his two young sons, and a chance to finally face his demons. It was here, fifteen years ago, that Silas and his friends Jessica, Danny, and Meg ventured into the mountain wilderness and Jessica vanished without a trace. When his boys go missing in the same dark woods, the fear and guilt that Silas has been running from ever since come crashing back.

What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere.

An abusive relationship causes Connie to withdraw from the world. Leaving behind her friends and career in the city, she returns to the safety of her hometown, now a wasteland of foreclosures. A shell of her former "fun-loving" self, she cuts off her emotions to survive. Meanwhile, Paul had no idea highway construction would detour his future. Unable to get the "Hermit lady" off his mind, he devises a plan to get near her to unravel the mystery. When his scientific approach proves ineffective, he becomes an active participant in the experiment.

William’s life had been tragically altered as a youth, now his life is about to change once again. William thought that he and his little brother could now live in relative peace, using their gifts in secret while working on the ranch they stumbled upon as children. However, his existence will become jeopardized, and he will have to find a way to make it through more tragedy. Zane was neglected by his father, pampered by his mother; the one connection he craved was with William, but the youth’s younger brother prevented it.

Toward the end of the 1,000 years of the trade age, a white donkey that understands the language of men comes to know that men either live by wisdom or float in ignorance. It sees how wisdom helps the city of Lars to avert the invasion of an uncountable celebration of polar bears. And in those days, a baby boy, Vensiono, is born and Mustan an old artist predicts that he will become a father of wise hooligans. But when all seem to be at blessed peace, a wizard appears - claiming to be from a faraway city of Hamana.

For most people, World War Two has been over for six years, but it's still a brutal reality for Leni Mayer, brought to Buenos Aires by a Nazi who took her captive in 1940 and never let her go. Lonely and despairing, she longs for a chance to return to England and be herself again. Butterfly enthusiast Raymond Varela and his eight-year-old son Anton have come to Patagonia in an effort to start life afresh after the losses of the war years.

When the body of a young man is pulled from a submerged car in Roque Harbor, rookie Game Warden Mike Bowditch is shocked when the man’s driver’s license identifies him as none other than...Mike Bowditch. For weeks, Mike and his colleagues have been fielding reports of a man terrorizing the locals while posing as a game warden, wielding a plastic pin-on badge and claiming to be “Warden Bowditch”. Who is the imposter, and how did he end up dead in the bottom of a harbor? Mike must uncover the truth in order to clear his own name.

The World My Wilderness was published in 1955 and follows the story of Barbary Deniston, a 17-year-old girl growing up in London during World War II. Barbary’s parents are divorced, and she divides her time between her mother’s bohemian lifestyle and her father’s more conventional life. The novel explores themes of identity, family, and the impact of war on individuals and society. It is considered one of Macaulay’s most personal and autobiographical works.

Etienne Gayneau doesn’t understand why the native peoples and colonists can’t get along in this land of abundant resources and opportunity. As war erupts between his Old World religious community and his New World friends, Etienne must find a way to end the violence, while protecting those he loves on both sides of the dispute. Etienne must learn to survive in this dangerous, exotic new world. He will learn new skills from his Native American friends and establish new friendships with old enemies.

Zach King has given up the ways of the warrior. The woman he loves is about to give birth, and he intends to be the best father he can be. Little does he know that he is being stalked. From out of his recent past comes an avenger. A man who has vowed to make Zach pay for killing his brother. A new birth should be a time of joy. Instead, Zach and his family find themselves ensnared in a deadly web of deception and peril.

When a good deed leaves him stranded in Comanche territory, where his supplies and weapons are stolen, Nate King finds himself defenseless against a band of bloodthirsty warriors who want him dead.

Clumsy, diffident Dick Mount and clever Maggie Gordon live in isolated clearings in New York's Mohawk Valley. Both just 16, they are young and inexperienced - and unprepared for the tragedies that will befall them. When Dick's brothers are killed by marauding Indians in the fall of 1777 and Maggie's father falls desperately ill, they must turn to each other to face the perils of the time.

Legendary mountain man Shakespeare McNair has seen enough winters in the wilderness to know when something isn't right. And beneath the waters of the lake near his new home, something is definitely off. Nate King and his family can see it, too - waves without any wind to create them, a huge force that pulls a fishing pole right from Evelyn King's hands, something malevolent out there...watching them. Shakespeare knows it's just a matter of time before the creature hurts someone. But he's not going to wait around. He's going to go after it himself, even knowing he might not come back.

When Evelyn King and a family of Nansusequas Indians fail to return from a buffalo hunt, mountain man Nate King and his companion Shakespeare McNair set out to find them. Soon they begin to hear worrying tales of a band of White scalp hunters who have been killing and scalping every Indian they come across. But Evelyn and the Nansusequas turn up safe and sound after being rescued by freight owner Jeremiah Blunt.