The New Wilderness was the September #BookeroftheMonth selection. We had the added pleasure of chatting with Diane Cook about the book, which increased my appreciation for the artistry of this novel!

From the premise, I thought I was in for a fully-dystopian novel with people struggling to survive in the last remaining wilderness. And while that was certainly one aspect of this story, even more important here is the depiction of motherhood and daughterhood, as well as the relationships between the characters more broadly.

Cook writes the characters and their interactions with one another very well. Even at the times when you’re frustrated by Bea or by her daughter Agnes, you can see why they make the choices that they do. The group dynamics are fascinating, particularly as they get further and further removed from life in the City. This book is an exploration of what it means to be a mother, a daughter, an individual, and a member of a community.

The writing is beautiful here, too, and Cook effortlessly jumps between eagle’s eye views of the wilderness to intimate looks at the members of the community. I do wish that there was a little more world-building of the world outside of the Wilderness, to better understand why things happened the way they did.

This isn’t going to be a book for everyone. It took me about 50% to be really invested in the story. Despite the epic scope of the Wilderness and some of the things that happen, this is a quieter story at heart that builds slowly. However, the parallels between it and recent events like the pandemic and issues surrounding immigration are clear and may make it easier to connect to for some readers.

TW: death of animals; death of a child; death of a parent; grief/loss