The Wilderness of Girls
Madeline Claire Franklin
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Extract
ONCE UPON A TIME, deep in the wilderness, in a land beyond maps and borders and human-claimed things, there was a beautiful castle.
This castle was not like other castles in tales you may have heard; it was wild and alive, hewn from the earth itself, grown and shaped over hundreds of years, just for us. Our castle was the hollowed body of an ancient tree, wrapped and latticed in an exoskeleton of vines and magic. It was a giant of a tree. A mountain of a tree.
And it was our home. The castle protected us: four untamed princesses and, sometimes, a wise old man named Mother. Mother was more than just his name; he was our prophet, our protector, our teacher. He gave us the gift of magic, the truth of naming, the treasure of stories. He gave us the mooring of a past, and the promise of a future. Mother was our heart, the castle our bones. Together, they held us upright through every storm.
About the book
While hiking, Rhi discovers four young women living wild and guarded by wolves.
The girls tell her that they are lost princesses raised by a man called Mother.
Shocked, Rhi takes them to hospital, all the while haunted by memories of her family trauma. Surely, the girls have been abducted, misled or abused? Yet she can see a bond between them that blurs fantasy and reality.
As media hysteria surrounding the young women grows, Rhi comes to a decision that will change all of their lives forever.
- An unflinching and ambitious novel by debut author Madeline Claire Franklin, an outstanding new talent.
- Perfect for fans of The Hazel Wood.
- A gripping exploration of trauma and the pressures placed on young women in a modern society.
PRAISE FOR THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS:
‘A compelling, thoughtful, and original debut.’ KIRKUS
‘Tender and raw, this debut isn’t afraid to dig into the agonizing interior lives of teen girls, the ways our world tries to break them, and the bonds they create to survive it.’ BOOKLIST
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