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 working in a nature reserve, Rhi stumbles upon a pack of wolves guarding four ‘wild’ girls, one of whom is injured. They explain they’re lost princesses raised by a dead man called Mother.
Shocked, Rhi takes them to hospital, all the while plagued by memories of her own family trauma. Surely, the girls have been abducted – misled – abused? And yet Rhi can see a special bond that blurs fantasy and reality.
As the media circus around them grows, Rhi and the girls must confront the demons of the past to decide on their future.
- 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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