"For readers of Amanda Coplin and Chris Bohjalian, In Wilderness is a suspenseful and literary love story--a daring and original novel about our fierce need for companionship and our enduring will to survive. In the winter of 1966, Katherine Reid receives a shattering diagnosis. Debilitated by a terminal and painful illness, Katherine moves to an isolated cabin deep in Georgia's Appalachian Mountains. There, with little more than a sleeping bag, a tin plate, and a loaded gun, she plans to spend the few short months remaining to her in beautiful but desolate solitude. Her isolation brings her peace, until the day she realizes the woods are not as empty as she believed. A heartbeat in the darkness. Breathing in the night. Katherine is not alone. Someone else is near, observing her every move. Twenty-year-old Vietnam veteran Danny lives in the once-grand mansion he has dubbed "Gatsby's house." Haunted by the scars of war and enclosed by walls of moldering books, he becomes fixated on Katherine. What starts as cautious observation grows to an obsession. When these two lost souls collide, the passion that ignites between them is all-consuming--and increasingly dangerous. Suffused with a stunning sense of character and atmosphere, Diane Thomas's intimate voice creates an unforgettable depiction of the transformative power of love, how we grieve and hope, and the perilous ways in which we heed and test our hearts."--
Easily a contender for my favorites this year. Could not be more in my wheelhouse. The solitude, the wilderness, the complex psychological stakes. Quiet and disquieting, fearsome and lovely, haunting and profound. Thomas took thirty years to write this, and it feels both old and new, in a wonderful way. She gripped me right from the start and held on. The coda was perfect. One of those books where I can’t believe it exists, and am so glad it does.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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18 March, 2017:
Finished reading
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18 March, 2017:
Reviewed