Escaping from sure starvation in Jamestown, the girl named Lamentations had my heart right from the beginning, even though the things she has to eat and the brilliance she needed to survive pushed the limits of my personal gross-out factor.
'Exhilarating' GUARDIAN 'Her writing has a timeless quality' THE TIMES '[Has] a visionary quality' OBSERVER
A profound and explosive novel about a spirited girl alone in the wilderness, trying to survive
A servant girl escapes from a settlement. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief of everything that her own civilization has taught her.
The Vaster Wilds is a work of raw and prophetic power…
So much prayer, so much mystery -- and yet I was drawn to this story of a 14th century mystic from the first page. I came to the book through a review by the great Ron Charles, formerly book critic for the Washington Post, and now a brilliant Substack writer.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION * NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOKS OF 2025 * SPOTIFY BEST DEBUTS OF 2025 * GOODREADS READERS' MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALL
"Atmospheric and unforgettable."-People
A masterful debut novel following a spirited young woman's explorations of faith, agency, and love in thirteenth-century Bruges.
Aleys is sixteen years old and unusual: stubborn, bright, and prone to religious visions. She and her only friend, Finn, a young scholar, have been learning Latin together in secret-but just as she thinks their connection might become something more,…
Heartbreaking, funny, engrossing, and character-driven -- there was nothing I didn't love. We listened to this on a long drive through New England, and yes, it is possible to bear the sadness while tears are streaming down your face and stay on the road.
Discover the emotional, funny, unforgettable BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick, Amazon Best Book of 2025 and New York Times bestselling word-of-mouth sensation that thousands of readers are calling their favourite book of the year...
Over 30,000 five star reviews on Goodreads!
'THIS NOVEL IS A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION' Ann Patchett
'I WAS DELIGHTED AND MOVED . . . MASTERFUL' New York Times
'I CAN'T PRAISE IT ENOUGH. AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH' Clare Chambers
'THIS NOVEL IS A COMPLETE AND UTTER JOY' Ann Napolitano
'I DON'T HAVE ANY WORDS. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL STORY' Reader review
A memoir and work of history, my book tells the story of how the North is more complicit and involved in slavery than most people realize, and underlines how my own Dutch family held on to slavery in New York until the end.
