Wilderness Fiction

In each of these tales, Margaret Atwood deftly illuminates the single instant that shapes a whole life: In a few brief minutes we watch as characters progress from the vulnerabilities of adolescence through the passions of youth into the precarious complexities of middle age. By superimposing the past on the present, Atwood paints interior landscapes shaped by time, regret, and life's lost chances, endowing even the banal with a sense of mystery.

Clumsy, diffident Dick Mount and clever Maggie Gordon live in isolated clearings in New York's Mohawk Valley. Both just 16, they are young and inexperienced - and unprepared for the tragedies that will befall them. When Dick's brothers are killed by marauding Indians in the fall of 1777 and Maggie's father falls desperately ill, they must turn to each other to face the perils of the time.

While sojourning in Egypt for 430 years, the nation of Israel did not have a personal knowledge as their forefathers had. Nothing could be more important to their existence, mission, and destiny than their wilderness experience. They experienced god's power on the eve of their exodus from Egypt. But they also needed to experience his holiness. This volume lays out the offerings of atonement by which they would gain such vital knowledge.

Still in a daze, I take it all in: the wind, the leaden skies, the churning moody sea. And, far in the distance, a misty outline. Skelsay. Wilderness haven. Building-site. Luxury-retreat-to-be. And now, home. When her father’s construction work takes Em’s family to the uninhabited island of Skelsay, she is excited, but also a little uneasy. Soon, Em and her friend, Zac, realize that the setbacks, mishaps, and accidents on the island point to something altogether more sinister: The wilderness all around them has declared war. Danger lurks everywhere.

The Wilderness is the perfect place for building dens, making fires and camping out all night. It’s the only place where Noah and his friends feel truly free. Then the sign appears - LAND FOR SALE. Doesn’t anyone care about the wildlife and the trees? The deer who comes at dawn, the baby crow Noah has been feeding, all of the creatures who’ve made the Wilderness their home? One thing is for sure - Noah and his friends are not giving up on the Wilderness without a fight.