Wilderness Fiction

Letitia holds nothing more dear than the papers that prove she is no longer a slave. They may not cause white folks to treat her like a human being, but at least they show she is free. She trusts in those words she cannot read - as she is beginning to trust in Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant cattleman who wants her to come west with him.

Eliza Brooks’s worst nightmare has come true—her father is missing. Now she’ll do anything to find him, even if it means taking a chance on who she must trust. But once aboard the steamship bound for San Diego—her father’s last known whereabouts—she finds herself in far more danger than she imagined.

December 13, 1920. It was a typical Monday morning when three US Navy officials boarded a hot-air balloon for an easy, routine training flight. But as evening came, heavy rain and wind knocked Lieutenants Louis Kloor, Stephen Farrell, and Walter Hinton off course, eventually forcing a crash landing deep within the snowy Canadian wilderness. As the men searched for salvation, they were overcome by freezing temperatures, starvation, and fatigue. To survive this harrowing experience, the brave military officers would have to go up against their greatest enemies yet.

What is a time? Is it a life? Is it a series of lives? It is the day of the devil's earth; and the Great Red Dragon is on the hunt for the illusive woman that could bring about the end of its reign. Concealing time and history as faith and science collide, God's plan takes form.

1861, Donegal, Ireland. Ten years ago Declan Conaghan’s father died in the Great Famine, and since then, Declan has kept his promise to keep his family out of the workhouse. But all that is threatened with the arrival of new landlord, John Adair. Adair is quick to cause trouble and fear among his tenants. When he turns them off his land, Declan has no option but to break his promise. Declan is in despair until he receives a letter from America offering him the chance of a new life and salvation for his family. But it would mean signing up to the US Army and fighting for Lincoln.

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.

The third volume of this gripping family saga, End of the Chapter, shifts to the Cherrells - cousins of the Forsytes by marriage. Young Dinny Cherrell in particular cherishes their ancestral home, Condaford Grange, which represents stability in a rapidly changing world. Through his depiction of the lives and loves of this family, Galsworthy throws a brilliant spotlight on the social and political upheavals of the 1930s.

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.

Set in 1838, Wilderness of the Heart follows Clara Lawson, a young woman in her early twenties who is determined to escape the life her parents have laid out for her. Refusing to marry a man she doesn’t love and feeling suffocated by the confines of her family farm in Hudson, New York, Clara joins a wagon train heading west in search of independence and a new life.

Alone in the Kentucky wilderness, Keturah Elliot finds herself bereft of family and facing the looming threat of losing all she has left. After toiling alongside her demeaning father for two years, she cannot bear losing the homestead they built with their own hands. Keturah has no choice but to trust the Lord's urging—she must marry to protect all she holds dear. But when a candidate presents himself in the form of a wealthy dandy from back East, can she find enough redeeming qualities to accept him?

After the death of their parents during the Hard Winter, Margaret and her sister have struggled to survive. Between her mother's dying wish that Margaret protect her sister, and the nagging sensation that they are not alone, guilt and worry are her constant companions. And if someone is following them, is their watcher friend or foe?

Muireall Blair has finally found a comfortable life at Fort Harrod—until she experiences a recurring nightmare that warns of impending doom for her sister. Unable to shake the weight of foreboding, Muireall cannot sit idle anymore and risk the dream becoming a reality. With her near-sightedness a closely guarded secret, she seeks the help of Jude, a man with his own hidden past, to reach her sister.

"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.

Mallory Reynolds is a driven woman fueled by her passion for photographing wild animals in remote locations. Every year she makes a trek deep into Alaska, but this time the unthinkable happens: she crash-lands after her plane stalls out in a storm. Injured, vulnerable, and threatened by the very creatures she loves, Mallory fears the worst - until she’s rescued by Michael Bradley, a mysterious mountain man living in self-imposed exile. Unfortunately, neither of them can leave Michael’s secluded cabin until spring. Mallory’s stuck with a stranger for months.

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.

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.

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.