The Vaster Wilds | Lauren Groff

Reading this work, from a writer who has three National Book Awards finalists titles to her name, reminded me that I've been reading fluffier stuff over the last few years. I'm not sure I remember the last book that you would consider Literature. During the pandemic, specifically, I was drawn to lighter fare.

The Vaster Wilds is a feast if you're a lover of language. I read Groff's Fates and Furies, which was excellent, set in current day. This book is set in the earliest days of the US colonies, featuring a young woman who runs away from Jamestown and makes her way through the wilderness to escape her past life. It's not a quick read, and that's a good thing. The writing itself is a master class in literary writing. I read a review in the NYT that shared that Groff wrote a version of this work in iambic pentameter, just for giggles. Now that's a Literary Writer! (As an aside, Groff doesn't follow standard conventions around capitalization.)

Within the story of "the girl" there are some beautiful observations about nature, people and how these two co-exist together. There's a passage about what dominion over the world means and whether it's given to Man alone by god, or whether other creatures were also given dominion over the world and everything in it. That's just one example of several passages that had me stopping, pondering and re-reading.