The New Wilderness: A Novel

Bea's five-year-old daughter, Agnes, is deteriorating from the smog and pollution of an overdeveloped city. To save her life, Bea volunteers with Agnes and eighteen others to enter the Wilderness State, the last protected, untouched land, in an experiment to determine whether humans can live in nature without destroying it. Living as nomadic hunter-gatherers, the group learns to survive in an unpredictable and dangerous landscape, struggling for power and control while betraying and helping one another. As Agnes thrives in this wild freedom, Bea confronts a painful realization: saving her daughter's life means losing her in a different way. The farther they move from civilization, the more their bond is tested. The novel examines motherhood, humanity's relationship with nature, and what it means to be human in a world ravaged by climate change. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and named a best book of the year by the Washington Post, NPR, and Buzzfeed.