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Author | Lauren Groff |
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Audio read by | January LaVoy |
Language | English |
Genre | Historical novel |
Set in | Virginia in 1610 |
Publisher | Riverhead Books |
Publication date | September 12, 2023 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook |
Pages | 272 |
Awards | The Florida Book Award for General Fiction |
ISBN | 978-0-593-41840-6 |
The Vaster Wilds is a historical novel by Lauren Groff, published by Riverhead Books on September 12, 2023.
Set in colonial Virginia, Groff's fifth novel, The Vaster Wilds, is about a servant girl who "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." [1]
The Guardian described the novel as "a hymn of endurance" with "biblical, incantatory" prose. [2] The Vaster Wilds received other positive reviews in the Los Angeles Times , [3] The Boston Globe, [4] and The New York Times Book Review . [5] Literary critic Maureen Corrigan was more critical of the book's plot and pacing, noting that "without a destination in view, all that running starts to seem kind of aimless." [6]
The novel won the gold prize for General Fiction at the Florida Book Award [7] and was named by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2023. [8]