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The Vaster Wilds

A Novel

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The Vaster Wilds

Written by: Lauren Groff
Narrated by: January LaVoy
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About this listen

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.

©2023 Lauren Groff (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Historical Fiction Fiction Wilderness
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What the critics say

“I know of few other writers whose sentences are so beautiful and so propulsive. The girl embodies a furious onward motion, as does the prose.”—New York Times Book Review

“[A] thrilling historical adventure. . .the existential themes at the heart of Lauren Groff’s fifth novel—the rawness of life, the precious inner-workings of nature, the drive to continue on in the face of challenges—are as timely as they come.”TIME

"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

What listeners say about The Vaster Wilds

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Walking Sucks

While well told, there's nothing about this book I found engaging. Unless you enjoy multiple graphic descriptions about emptying one's bowels, the rest of this story seems to be about the persistence of life despite unspeakable horrors. I wasn't keen to pick it up again.
There's nothing here to grab onto. No reward. So if you need that, this is not the book for you. Clearly, it's something I needed. At least from this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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utterly compelling

I could not stop listening. The experiences created in this story are so alien and elemental they are hard to comprehend were it not for the frank rendering. Nevertheless, beauty crashes through.The language, cadences and prose/poetry are stunning.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Stunning and raw.

If you aren’t moved by this story, are you even alive? I will be listening again and again.

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Struggle

This book was a struggle to get through. Too descriptive and anticlimatic. Underwhelming finish and I didn’t like the language in it.

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