The New Wilderness

‘THE ENVIRONMENTAL NOVEL OF OUR TIMES.’ Lemn Sissay, Booker Prize judge

From a critically acclaimed author comes a searing novel about maternal love pushed to the brink by environmental crisis

‘Brutal and beautiful in equal measure’ (Emily St. John Mandel)

Bea’s daughter, Agnes, is slowly wasting away, her lungs ravaged by the smog and pollution of the overpopulated metropolis they call home.

The only alternative is to build a life in the vast expanse of untamed land known as The Wilderness State. No one has been allowed to venture here before. That is all about to change. But as Bea soon discovers, saving her daughter’s life might mean losing her in ways she hadn’t foreseen.

Passionate and exhilarating, The New Wilderness is the story of a mother’s fight to save her daughter in a world she can no longer call her own.

Longlisted for the DUBLIN Literary Award 2022 * A Guardian Best Science Fiction Book of the Year * A ‘Best Book of the Year 2020’ according to BBC Culture * An Irish Times Best Debut Fiction of 2020