In The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff has crafted a tale so innocent and yet so inexorably captivating that I am still a little stunned by the intensity of it. 

It begins with a teenaged girl, Lamentations Callat, also known as Zed among other names, who is taken from a 17th century poorhouse in England to become a servant in a wealthy goldsmith’s home. Chosen for her beauty and intelligence, she becomes a playtoy of the mistress of the house and subsequently, the caregiver to the woman’s ‘simple’ daughter Bess. The family decides to leave England for a brighter (read: richer) future in America and the first inkling of what it is to survive enormous hardship becomes evident to the girl. The crossing is brutal and many of the passengers succumb to the atrocious conditions aboard the ship.

Once in America, the family faces more overwhelming hardship, pestilence and hunger, and for reasons that are revealed throughout, this teenaged girl flees her ‘captors’ and escapes into the wild country of Virginia. With a plan in her head to find the Frenchman in the north, this young, naive girl begins a journey of survival so raw, so unbelievably daunting, that it is almost surreal.

Throughout the journey, the reader is exposed to the intimacies of her afflictions from nits and lice on every part of her body to the wretchedness of her digestive processes. From the grubs and insects she devours like a feast. to the succulence of raw fish that brings her to her knees, this girl rises up over and over again with a strength of will so unfathomable, it seems incomprehensible.

During her perilous journey, she is able to observe the rawness and perfect symmetry of her natural surroundings. From the stars in the sky to the bottom of a river, she watches the interplay of the natural world and those observations lead her to question the societal mores and religious doctrines to which she has been inculcated. In spite of the madness of raging fever and starvation, her innocent appreciation of the beauty and blessings found in her wild landscape bring her a quiet peace and acceptance.

Lauren Groff’s writing is beautifully engaging and starkly horrifying at the same time. There is a visceral quality to her writing that pulls you into the intimacies of this girl’s journey, whether you want to be there or not. For lovers of literature that makes you think, The Vaster Wilds is a gift.