A History of Wild Places: A Novel

Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. When hired to find Maggie St. James, a well-known author of dark children's books, he is led to Pastoral—a reclusive commune founded in the 1970s by people seeking a simpler way of life. The community was believed by many to be only a legend. Shortly after Travis arrives, he disappears, just as Maggie did. Years later, Theo, a lifelong Pastoral resident, discovers Travis's abandoned truck beyond the community's border. No one is allowed in or out due to the risk of bringing a disease called rot into Pastoral. As Theo, his wife Calla, and her sister Bee investigate what happened to the two outsiders, they uncover secrets they have kept from one another. Their investigation reveals that their isolated world harbors darkness they did not know existed, and that the community is not as safe as they believed.