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The Vaster Wilds: A Novel

Description:

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.


Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Vaster Wilds:

“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, "Top 10 Books of 2023"

"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

“Holds tension and sows mystery on every page.”—Vulture

“Groff’s seventh novel begins with a high-octane escape. . . .Though the white-knuckled tale of this young woman. . .Groff enlivens the dark crevices of colonial history. But the ambitions of The Vaster Wilds are loftier than this—in fact, they’re downright cosmic. . . .The result is an ecstatic transformation—one that’s a haunting and holy experience to read and behold.”Esquire, "The 20 Best Books of 2023"

“Transcendent. Mesmerizing. Dazzling. Incandescent. Audacious….All of those descriptors are accurate and none of them are sufficient to describe just how spectacular [Groff’s] new book is.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Lauren Groff just reinvented the adventure novel… Groff’s world is Darwinian, but she doesn’t chronicle the survival of the fittest; she convinces us instead that even the unluckiest among us can find a way to the blessings of peace, quiet and freedom.”
Los Angeles Times, "13 Best Novels of 2023"
 
“Glorious…Groff imagines a natural world where humans adapt to its contours rather than conquer them… We don’t need a hero’s tale of domination and plunder to fix the environment. We need more stories of how becoming part of the natural systems that surround us may help us survive.
The Vaster Wilds is a terrific addition to a developing canon of our continued existence.”—The Boston Globe

“Lilting, whispered…poetic.”
Wall Street Journal

Groff’s fiction is usually identified as ecological and feminist, which it certainly is, but it is theological too…Nature is Groff’s muse as well as her deity. Her prose, always alive and sensuous, is hit by an extra electrical charge…Groff has written the gospel.”—The Atlantic

"A rollicking adventure story, quick-paced and snappy and frequently funny…impossible to put down...This book is exquisitely attuned to the experience of being a human body within nature...Stark, vicious, and transcendent, The Vaster Wildsis the best book I’ve read all year. It’s a triumph.—Vox

“Magnificent…a cosmic adventure story in which the state of the main character’s soul is just as important as the fate of her body.” —Slate, "Top 10 Books of the Year"

“Groff’s depictions of the untrammeled natural world, in all its beauty and brutality, are gorgeously rendered, as is the psychological portrait of her indefatigable protagonist, whose light blazes and then dims as her fortunes change… [I] found myself transfixed, and awestruck by the end.”
Literary Hub
 
“Groff skillfully weaves the girl’s past into her forward flight... As she travels farther and farther from the fort, Groff draws the reader ever closer to naming the reason for her flight. It’s a stunning revelation, followed by an even more stunning ending. Full of wonder and heartbreak,
The Vaster Wilds is a dazzling journey.”—Tampa Bay Times
 
“Groff creates a thrilling journey.”—
Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Mesmerizing. . .a stupendous imagining of early colonial America, and about the resilience of one young girl to survive despite all odds.”Town & Country

"Engrossing. . . The Vaster Wilds explores themes that are mainstays of Groff's work: faith, nature, what it means to be a woman in the world— and the ingenuity it takes to survive there."San Francisco Chronicle

“Breathtaking… It is impossible to overstate how spellbindingly she renders the grim reality of wilderness survival… It is not a story for the faint of heart, but it is also not without its softness, its triumphs, its aching moments of benediction and sheer beauty.”
—Chapter 16
 
“Suspenseful and sweeping.”
Southern Living

"Part-adventure, part-fable, classic Groff."
—The Millions

“[A] page-turner with a built-in engine. . .once you slip into its rich rhythms, it’s an engrossing and rewarding journey.”
Vogue, "Best Books of the Year"
 
“Illustrate[s] a fluid, almost cyclical understanding of history, and faith’s sticky place within it.” ­—Elle

"[An] absorbing, visceral study of survival." Vanity Fair

“Groff’s portrayal of the wilderness is not only raw and violent but also filled with moments of profound beauty and realization. As the girl navigates the forest, her journey becomes an allegory for the broader themes of environmental stewardship, the illusion of escaping the past, and female vulnerability in a male-dominated society. . .The contrast in these narratives showcases Groff’s versatility as a writer, her skill in creating intense, emotionally charged stories that challenge readers, and her insight into the historical and cultural forces shaping women’s lives.”Scientific Inquirer

“Extraordinary. . .Groff builds and maintains suspense on multiple levels, while offering an unflinching portrayal of her heroine’s desperation and will to survive. This is a triumph.” ­—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
“Groff's seventh book, a captivating survival story, starts off running. . . .this wholly enveloping book has. . . deep examinations of faith, dominion, and human nature; Groff's seemingly joyfully related, seamless period prose; and the time-collapsing sense of reading a text channeled directly from the mind of a long-ago-living, breathing woman facing extraordinary circumstances.”—Booklist, Starred Review & "Best of 2023"
 
“Groff’s imaginative journey into a distant time and place is powered by a thrumming engine. . . Immersion in the girl’s experience provides a virtual vacation from civilization. . . The writing is inspired, the imaginative power near mystic.”—
­Kirkus Reviews
 
“Combines visceral detail and magisterial sweep. . . Lauren Groff's fifth novel, set in Virginia in the early 17th century, is a classic study of solitude and survival that stars a teenage girl fleeing starvation—and the scene of a crime.” —
Shelf Awareness

About the Author

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won the Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Groff ’s work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece

S.S. · August 19, 2025

I wanted to read this book forever.The writing is forceful, beautiful and serene and absolutely raw. And yes, it’s about a girl who flees Jamestown, but it’s equally about the strength of one’s mind and the circle the beauty of the uncaring Drive of Nature.I want to be in the woods with ‘Girl’ again.—Fabulous and realistic ending.

4.0 out of 5 stars Bleak but beautiful

e.H. · February 27, 2025

A young girl without a real name flees through the VA wilderness following a tragic incident at the fort where she was living as a servant girl to the minister and his wife. Her flight was so harrowing that it seemed she would perish at any moment. Her survival is tied into thoughts of wilderness vs formal society, questions of whether there is a God, survival despite unimaginable challenges and finally an acceptance of the human condition. The story is first person narration and may not be for everyone but it is beautifully written

3.0 out of 5 stars A Very Philosophical, poetic book

C.L. · May 14, 2025

This very complicated story of life & death reads more like an allegorical poem than a fictional book. Life, death, hope, bitterness, survival are all present. Many passages are worth highlighting for times of trial & stress in daily life. I live in the area of Jamestown, the setting of this book. Each day I walk the ground where she surely might have walked. I often marvel and wonder about the 1st settlers and the strength and despair they must have suffered. This book may well be more realistic than any of the lore we have studied and often honored.

5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom in nature

N. · September 28, 2023

I first fell in love with Lauren Groff’s writing with her 2006 Atlantic short story “L. DeBard and Aliette.” It has stuck with me since I first read it in graduate school, yet for some reason I haven’t actually read any of her novels until The Vaster Wilds (Matrix has been on my to-read list for ages!)The Vaster Wilds is quite a self-contained story, following a girl (simply known as “girl,” but by numerous other names throughout her life, such as Lamentations.) Through contextual clues, we find that the girl has fled the famine and disease-stricken Jamestown settlement after she has committed a crime. The girl’s strong-willed drive for survival is the spark the ignites her journey and keeps her fire burning through adversity in the wilderness.Through starvation, disease, injuries, harsh weather, and much more, the girl’s ingenuity keeps her alive. Perhaps it is obvious to say, but the girl’s flight through the harsh wilderness is also very much a journey through her own mind and memories. She was purchased as a type of “pet” for her former mistress; a person forced to be an object or play thing. A person forced to journey across an ocean and care for a young child. A person forced to witness and endure terrible hardship. The harsh reality of the girl’s life in “civilization” was perhaps far more trying than anything the untamed wilderness hurls her way. For in civilization she was bound, yet in the wilderness she is free.Lauren Groff’s writing style is unique, poetic, and beautiful. Perfect and poignant in her phrasing. I watched the movie Beau Is Afraid around the same time I was finishing this novel, and I can’t help but draw similarities in the abstract journeys both physical and emotional, both bizarre and beautiful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, Visceral, Driven, and Promising

r. · March 22, 2025

Not “bleak”! I found it uplifting for its frank engagement with the roots and effects of the European diaspora. The writing is simply excellent. The ending is not the usual, nostalgic fluff— which may annoy some people looking for a tired old progress narrative. Nope! This an exciting page turner, visceral to the core, and an engaging evaluation of the worldview “we” still inhabit even as it explores possible alternatives.

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 stars until the end...

m. · March 14, 2025

I found myself distracted and bored in the middle of the book. Though well written, I couldn't imagine where it was all going or an ending that would satisfy me. Time passed for the girl slower than I could read the words... My opinion completely changed in the last 1/4 of the book, suddenly time flew by, not enough words, and my favorite type of ending.

5.0 out of 5 stars Jamestown as People, Not History

P.K. · January 7, 2024

Lauren Groff's Vaster Wilds is an experience even more than it is a story, although it IS a story, and a storyteller's story at that. Set in Jamstown, Virginia in the "dying time" of 1609 when about 80% of the colonists died. Ms. Groff's story is simple: a teenaged woman slips out of the town, hoping to get away from the starvation and disease of the colony. She heads north toward the French colonies of Quebec simply because she has some knowledge of French. She plunges into the "vaster wilds" and her story is her fight to survive. The details the author provides are riveting and either gruesome or beautiful -- sometimes both at once. But the most beautiful facet of "The Vaster Wilds" is the quality of Lauren Groff's prose. I once heard Ms. Groff read one of her short stories. As I read "The Vaster Wilds" I wished I could hear her read her novel.

2.0 out of 5 stars Tedious and needs editing

A. · March 7, 2024

I have read nearly all of Lauren Groff’s books including short stories, but I found this one absolutely tedious and a total chore to read. By the end I could not wait for the whole slog to be over. What a disappointment! This would have been fine as a short story, but as a book, shame on the editor. Nothing interesting or amazing or insightful. Lovely prose of course, but that alone is only words for the sake of words. So disappointing. Read anything else by the author.

Profound

S. · January 26, 2024

The plot of this book is simple: into a fledgling colony of North America comes a small dusky skinned servant girl from England. When starvation and illness destroy most life in the fort where she now lives, the girl escapes and makes her way through the strange new wilderness, surviving starvation, injury and illness to set up a simple home for herself. There is almost no conversation: it is a book written entirely as narrative - this happened, that happened etc. Apart from the dangerous physical things that happen, the girl observes and thinks, and a voice sometimes leads or challenges her thoughts. She is strong, resourceful, dedicated to staying alive and wins our respect. There are flashbacks to life in England which are vivid in their evocation of Tudor life. There’s the backstory of a Jesuit priest madly and raggedly surviving in the New World. Towards the end there’s the story of what really happened in the girl’s final hours at the fort. These are stories of venality, filth, cruelty mixed in with song, dance and learning.The wonder and majesty of the novel is in the picture it presents of a halcyon world before Europeans took over and in the girl’s changing apprehension of god, the natural world and the place of humanity in it. This is a bland way to describe it. Lauren Groff is a superb writer with a luminous, poetic, heartfelt gift for driving home fundamental truths of our existence that we often stand outside of as we go to the supermarket etc. It feels very timely, given the coming welter of climate change depredations and the ever-changing social and political upheavals. A superb book, that makes us long for a pristine world whose inhabitants have a humble appreciation of their tiny place in the great chain of being.

Breathtaking

A. · February 19, 2025

Lauren Groff is one of the best writers working today and this is up there with the best of her work. A young servant girl in the early years of white settlement in America runs away from the horrifying conditions that she is being kept in. Groff’s writing on nature in particular is breathtaking. I’ve never read anything quite like this.

The best book I've read in a long, long time!

m.w. · November 29, 2023

If you're like me and love survival themed novels with a historical setting, this is the next novel for you. I read all day and into the evening until it was done. It was both historically accurate and also captured the struggle to survive in the wilderness with the the most deliciously brutal descriptions. I bought a hard copy to keep in my collection of favourite books of all time.

Interesting story

J. · March 10, 2025

Interesting story, but it felt sometimes like a book with survival tips.

A boring novel

M. · February 1, 2024

Too long when people have read ROBINSON CRUSOE? LAZARILLO de TORMS , PILGRIM4S PROGRESS and books that are called : road movies, this VAST WILDS is not very original and depressing . She writes well on the whole , but , her sentences are too long and she seems to enjoy wallowing in her own prose . So it's boring and the end is depressing .I did not enjoy it at all

The Vaster Wilds: A Novel

Product ID: U0593418409
Condition: New

4

AED7326

Price includes VAT & Import Duties
Type: Paperback
Availability: In Stock

Quantity:

|

Order today to get by 7-14 business days

Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.

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Imported From: United States

At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.

BOLO is not an authorized or official retailer for most brands, nor are we affiliated with manufacturers unless specifically stated on a product page. Instead, we source verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.

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BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of United Arab Emirates. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the UAE will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in United Arab Emirates are listed on our website.

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All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.

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The Vaster Wilds: A Novel

Product ID: U0593418409
Condition: New

4

The Vaster Wilds: A Novel-0
Type: Paperback

AED7326

Price includes VAT & Import Duties
Availability: In Stock

Quantity:

|

Order today to get by 7-14 business days

Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.

Returns & Warranty policies

Imported From: United States

At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.

BOLO is not an authorized or official retailer for most brands, nor are we affiliated with manufacturers unless specifically stated on a product page. Instead, we source verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.

Each product undergoes thorough inspection and verification at our consolidation and fulfilment centers to ensure it meets our strict authenticity and quality standards before being shipped and delivered to you.

If you ever have concerns regarding the authenticity of a product purchased from us, please contact Bolo Support. We will review your inquiry promptly and, if necessary, provide documentation verifying authenticity or offer a suitable resolution.

Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.

All product information, images, descriptions, and reviews originate from the manufacturer or from trusted sellers overseas. BOLO is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an authorized retailer for most brands listed on our website unless stated otherwise.

While we strive to display accurate information, variations in packaging, labeling, instructions, or formulation may occasionally occur due to regional differences or supplier updates. For detailed or manufacturer-specific information, please contact the brand directly or reach out to BOLO Support for assistance.

Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.

BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of United Arab Emirates. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the UAE will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in United Arab Emirates are listed on our website.

All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.

All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.

Description:

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.


Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Vaster Wilds:

“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, "Top 10 Books of 2023"

"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

“Holds tension and sows mystery on every page.”—Vulture

“Groff’s seventh novel begins with a high-octane escape. . . .Though the white-knuckled tale of this young woman. . .Groff enlivens the dark crevices of colonial history. But the ambitions of The Vaster Wilds are loftier than this—in fact, they’re downright cosmic. . . .The result is an ecstatic transformation—one that’s a haunting and holy experience to read and behold.”Esquire, "The 20 Best Books of 2023"

“Transcendent. Mesmerizing. Dazzling. Incandescent. Audacious….All of those descriptors are accurate and none of them are sufficient to describe just how spectacular [Groff’s] new book is.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Lauren Groff just reinvented the adventure novel… Groff’s world is Darwinian, but she doesn’t chronicle the survival of the fittest; she convinces us instead that even the unluckiest among us can find a way to the blessings of peace, quiet and freedom.”
Los Angeles Times, "13 Best Novels of 2023"
 
“Glorious…Groff imagines a natural world where humans adapt to its contours rather than conquer them… We don’t need a hero’s tale of domination and plunder to fix the environment. We need more stories of how becoming part of the natural systems that surround us may help us survive.
The Vaster Wilds is a terrific addition to a developing canon of our continued existence.”—The Boston Globe

“Lilting, whispered…poetic.”
Wall Street Journal

Groff’s fiction is usually identified as ecological and feminist, which it certainly is, but it is theological too…Nature is Groff’s muse as well as her deity. Her prose, always alive and sensuous, is hit by an extra electrical charge…Groff has written the gospel.”—The Atlantic

"A rollicking adventure story, quick-paced and snappy and frequently funny…impossible to put down...This book is exquisitely attuned to the experience of being a human body within nature...Stark, vicious, and transcendent, The Vaster Wildsis the best book I’ve read all year. It’s a triumph.—Vox

“Magnificent…a cosmic adventure story in which the state of the main character’s soul is just as important as the fate of her body.” —Slate, "Top 10 Books of the Year"

“Groff’s depictions of the untrammeled natural world, in all its beauty and brutality, are gorgeously rendered, as is the psychological portrait of her indefatigable protagonist, whose light blazes and then dims as her fortunes change… [I] found myself transfixed, and awestruck by the end.”
Literary Hub
 
“Groff skillfully weaves the girl’s past into her forward flight... As she travels farther and farther from the fort, Groff draws the reader ever closer to naming the reason for her flight. It’s a stunning revelation, followed by an even more stunning ending. Full of wonder and heartbreak,
The Vaster Wilds is a dazzling journey.”—Tampa Bay Times
 
“Groff creates a thrilling journey.”—
Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Mesmerizing. . .a stupendous imagining of early colonial America, and about the resilience of one young girl to survive despite all odds.”Town & Country

"Engrossing. . . The Vaster Wilds explores themes that are mainstays of Groff's work: faith, nature, what it means to be a woman in the world— and the ingenuity it takes to survive there."San Francisco Chronicle

“Breathtaking… It is impossible to overstate how spellbindingly she renders the grim reality of wilderness survival… It is not a story for the faint of heart, but it is also not without its softness, its triumphs, its aching moments of benediction and sheer beauty.”
—Chapter 16
 
“Suspenseful and sweeping.”
Southern Living

"Part-adventure, part-fable, classic Groff."
—The Millions

“[A] page-turner with a built-in engine. . .once you slip into its rich rhythms, it’s an engrossing and rewarding journey.”
Vogue, "Best Books of the Year"
 
“Illustrate[s] a fluid, almost cyclical understanding of history, and faith’s sticky place within it.” ­—Elle

"[An] absorbing, visceral study of survival." Vanity Fair

“Groff’s portrayal of the wilderness is not only raw and violent but also filled with moments of profound beauty and realization. As the girl navigates the forest, her journey becomes an allegory for the broader themes of environmental stewardship, the illusion of escaping the past, and female vulnerability in a male-dominated society. . .The contrast in these narratives showcases Groff’s versatility as a writer, her skill in creating intense, emotionally charged stories that challenge readers, and her insight into the historical and cultural forces shaping women’s lives.”Scientific Inquirer

“Extraordinary. . .Groff builds and maintains suspense on multiple levels, while offering an unflinching portrayal of her heroine’s desperation and will to survive. This is a triumph.” ­—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
“Groff's seventh book, a captivating survival story, starts off running. . . .this wholly enveloping book has. . . deep examinations of faith, dominion, and human nature; Groff's seemingly joyfully related, seamless period prose; and the time-collapsing sense of reading a text channeled directly from the mind of a long-ago-living, breathing woman facing extraordinary circumstances.”—Booklist, Starred Review & "Best of 2023"
 
“Groff’s imaginative journey into a distant time and place is powered by a thrumming engine. . . Immersion in the girl’s experience provides a virtual vacation from civilization. . . The writing is inspired, the imaginative power near mystic.”—
­Kirkus Reviews
 
“Combines visceral detail and magisterial sweep. . . Lauren Groff's fifth novel, set in Virginia in the early 17th century, is a classic study of solitude and survival that stars a teenage girl fleeing starvation—and the scene of a crime.” —
Shelf Awareness

About the Author

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won the Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Groff ’s work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere.

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece

S.S. · August 19, 2025

I wanted to read this book forever.The writing is forceful, beautiful and serene and absolutely raw. And yes, it’s about a girl who flees Jamestown, but it’s equally about the strength of one’s mind and the circle the beauty of the uncaring Drive of Nature.I want to be in the woods with ‘Girl’ again.—Fabulous and realistic ending.

4.0 out of 5 stars Bleak but beautiful

e.H. · February 27, 2025

A young girl without a real name flees through the VA wilderness following a tragic incident at the fort where she was living as a servant girl to the minister and his wife. Her flight was so harrowing that it seemed she would perish at any moment. Her survival is tied into thoughts of wilderness vs formal society, questions of whether there is a God, survival despite unimaginable challenges and finally an acceptance of the human condition. The story is first person narration and may not be for everyone but it is beautifully written

3.0 out of 5 stars A Very Philosophical, poetic book

C.L. · May 14, 2025

This very complicated story of life & death reads more like an allegorical poem than a fictional book. Life, death, hope, bitterness, survival are all present. Many passages are worth highlighting for times of trial & stress in daily life. I live in the area of Jamestown, the setting of this book. Each day I walk the ground where she surely might have walked. I often marvel and wonder about the 1st settlers and the strength and despair they must have suffered. This book may well be more realistic than any of the lore we have studied and often honored.

5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom in nature

N. · September 28, 2023

I first fell in love with Lauren Groff’s writing with her 2006 Atlantic short story “L. DeBard and Aliette.” It has stuck with me since I first read it in graduate school, yet for some reason I haven’t actually read any of her novels until The Vaster Wilds (Matrix has been on my to-read list for ages!)The Vaster Wilds is quite a self-contained story, following a girl (simply known as “girl,” but by numerous other names throughout her life, such as Lamentations.) Through contextual clues, we find that the girl has fled the famine and disease-stricken Jamestown settlement after she has committed a crime. The girl’s strong-willed drive for survival is the spark the ignites her journey and keeps her fire burning through adversity in the wilderness.Through starvation, disease, injuries, harsh weather, and much more, the girl’s ingenuity keeps her alive. Perhaps it is obvious to say, but the girl’s flight through the harsh wilderness is also very much a journey through her own mind and memories. She was purchased as a type of “pet” for her former mistress; a person forced to be an object or play thing. A person forced to journey across an ocean and care for a young child. A person forced to witness and endure terrible hardship. The harsh reality of the girl’s life in “civilization” was perhaps far more trying than anything the untamed wilderness hurls her way. For in civilization she was bound, yet in the wilderness she is free.Lauren Groff’s writing style is unique, poetic, and beautiful. Perfect and poignant in her phrasing. I watched the movie Beau Is Afraid around the same time I was finishing this novel, and I can’t help but draw similarities in the abstract journeys both physical and emotional, both bizarre and beautiful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, Visceral, Driven, and Promising

r. · March 22, 2025

Not “bleak”! I found it uplifting for its frank engagement with the roots and effects of the European diaspora. The writing is simply excellent. The ending is not the usual, nostalgic fluff— which may annoy some people looking for a tired old progress narrative. Nope! This an exciting page turner, visceral to the core, and an engaging evaluation of the worldview “we” still inhabit even as it explores possible alternatives.

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 stars until the end...

m. · March 14, 2025

I found myself distracted and bored in the middle of the book. Though well written, I couldn't imagine where it was all going or an ending that would satisfy me. Time passed for the girl slower than I could read the words... My opinion completely changed in the last 1/4 of the book, suddenly time flew by, not enough words, and my favorite type of ending.

5.0 out of 5 stars Jamestown as People, Not History

P.K. · January 7, 2024

Lauren Groff's Vaster Wilds is an experience even more than it is a story, although it IS a story, and a storyteller's story at that. Set in Jamstown, Virginia in the "dying time" of 1609 when about 80% of the colonists died. Ms. Groff's story is simple: a teenaged woman slips out of the town, hoping to get away from the starvation and disease of the colony. She heads north toward the French colonies of Quebec simply because she has some knowledge of French. She plunges into the "vaster wilds" and her story is her fight to survive. The details the author provides are riveting and either gruesome or beautiful -- sometimes both at once. But the most beautiful facet of "The Vaster Wilds" is the quality of Lauren Groff's prose. I once heard Ms. Groff read one of her short stories. As I read "The Vaster Wilds" I wished I could hear her read her novel.

2.0 out of 5 stars Tedious and needs editing

A. · March 7, 2024

I have read nearly all of Lauren Groff’s books including short stories, but I found this one absolutely tedious and a total chore to read. By the end I could not wait for the whole slog to be over. What a disappointment! This would have been fine as a short story, but as a book, shame on the editor. Nothing interesting or amazing or insightful. Lovely prose of course, but that alone is only words for the sake of words. So disappointing. Read anything else by the author.

Profound

S. · January 26, 2024

The plot of this book is simple: into a fledgling colony of North America comes a small dusky skinned servant girl from England. When starvation and illness destroy most life in the fort where she now lives, the girl escapes and makes her way through the strange new wilderness, surviving starvation, injury and illness to set up a simple home for herself. There is almost no conversation: it is a book written entirely as narrative - this happened, that happened etc. Apart from the dangerous physical things that happen, the girl observes and thinks, and a voice sometimes leads or challenges her thoughts. She is strong, resourceful, dedicated to staying alive and wins our respect. There are flashbacks to life in England which are vivid in their evocation of Tudor life. There’s the backstory of a Jesuit priest madly and raggedly surviving in the New World. Towards the end there’s the story of what really happened in the girl’s final hours at the fort. These are stories of venality, filth, cruelty mixed in with song, dance and learning.The wonder and majesty of the novel is in the picture it presents of a halcyon world before Europeans took over and in the girl’s changing apprehension of god, the natural world and the place of humanity in it. This is a bland way to describe it. Lauren Groff is a superb writer with a luminous, poetic, heartfelt gift for driving home fundamental truths of our existence that we often stand outside of as we go to the supermarket etc. It feels very timely, given the coming welter of climate change depredations and the ever-changing social and political upheavals. A superb book, that makes us long for a pristine world whose inhabitants have a humble appreciation of their tiny place in the great chain of being.

Breathtaking

A. · February 19, 2025

Lauren Groff is one of the best writers working today and this is up there with the best of her work. A young servant girl in the early years of white settlement in America runs away from the horrifying conditions that she is being kept in. Groff’s writing on nature in particular is breathtaking. I’ve never read anything quite like this.

The best book I've read in a long, long time!

m.w. · November 29, 2023

If you're like me and love survival themed novels with a historical setting, this is the next novel for you. I read all day and into the evening until it was done. It was both historically accurate and also captured the struggle to survive in the wilderness with the the most deliciously brutal descriptions. I bought a hard copy to keep in my collection of favourite books of all time.

Interesting story

J. · March 10, 2025

Interesting story, but it felt sometimes like a book with survival tips.

A boring novel

M. · February 1, 2024

Too long when people have read ROBINSON CRUSOE? LAZARILLO de TORMS , PILGRIM4S PROGRESS and books that are called : road movies, this VAST WILDS is not very original and depressing . She writes well on the whole , but , her sentences are too long and she seems to enjoy wallowing in her own prose . So it's boring and the end is depressing .I did not enjoy it at all

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