Into the Wilderness

A Novel

By: Sara Donati

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 30 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate listeners from the start.

When Elizabeth Middleton, 29 years old and unmarried, leaves her Aunt Merriweather's comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise on the edge of the New York wilderness, she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school.

It is December of 1792 when she arrives in a cold climate unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man different from any she has ever encountered - a white man dressed like a Native American, tall and lean and unsettling in his blunt honesty. He is Nathaniel Bonner, also known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives.

Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village - White, Black, and Native American - Elizabeth soon finds herself at odds with local slave owners. Much to her surprise, she clashes with her own father as well. Financially strapped, Judge Middleton has plans for his daughter - betrothal to local doctor Richard Todd. An alliance with Todd could extract her father from ruin but would call into question the ownership of Hidden Wolf, the mountain where Nathaniel, his father, and a small group of Native Americans live and hunt.

As Judge Middleton brings pressure to bear against his daughter, she is faced with a choice between compliance and deception, a flight into the forest, and a desire that will bend her hard will to compromise and transformation.

Elizabeth's ultimate destiny, here in the heart of the wilderness, lies in the odyssey to come: trials of faith and flesh, and passion born amid Nathaniel's own secrets and divided soul.

Interweaving the fate of the remnants of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati's compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.

©2009 Sara Donati (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"My favorite kind of book is the sort you live in, rather than read. Into the Wilderness is one of those rare stories that let you breathe the air of another time, and leave your footprints on the snow of a wild, strange place. I can think of no better adventure than to explore the wilderness in the company of such engaging and independent lovers as Elizabeth and her Nathaniel." (Diana Gabaldon)
"Each time you open a book you hope to discover a story that will make your spirit of adventure and romance sing. This book delivers on that promise." (Amanda Quick)

Only Worth Reading for Background on Future Books

I tried to read this book a few years ago. I quit because it seemed to be so unoriginal and blatantly commercial. The author borrowed one of her primary characters from James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans" and also brought in characters from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, all of which said to me that the author was so unsure of her own ability to write a book people would like on its own merits, that she resorted to gimmicks to attract an audience. And as I read a little about the author, including her own words from her own website, I read nothing that convinced me her book was nothing more than an attempt to capitalize on others success. She seemed to have a real chip on her shoulder about other's success.

However, several months ago I purchased "The Gilded Hour" because the time period attracted me and I failed to note the author until I'd already purchased. I read it anyway and was pleasantly surprised. This made me decide to give her earlier series another chance. Especially because "The Gilded Hour" follows a later generation of the characters in "Into the Wilderness."

This time I made it through. "Into the Wilderness" is not a great book. There are moments when it is good. Much of the storyline makes little sense or is implausible at best, and her historical research is weak. Donati tries too hard in this book. And she fails to follow the one rule that is critical when you are at the beginning of a long book that is part of a longer series following the same characters. You have to take the time for the reader to get to know the characters as themselves. And you can't do this when they are thrown from crisis to crisis and constantly in danger from somewhere. There needs to be some downtime, where they lead normal lives without catastrophe hovering about. My guess is it is hard to write that kind of scene into a book and make it interesting to the reader, but good writers of sagas do it well. Donati did not.

Nevertheless, there was something appealing about the book and I not only finished it, I moved on and read the rest of the series. I was very happy that I did.

Hoped it would be more like outlander

It wasn't bad, just had higher expectations after the outlander series. I never really cared about the characters and the narration was flat.

What just happened?

So, I downloaded this book- thinking it would be similar to Outlander, as I'm a fan of the works of Diana Gabaldon. This was NOT LIKE OUTLANDER. That being said...I don't want to be overly negative--I will just say that I really didn't enjoy this book, it frustrated the heck out of me. It just stopped!!!
I will stick with Diana Gabaldon, Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley...

Great story, well narrated, action romance

Great story, well narrated, action romance. Enjoyable read, it has well developed characters, recommended highly

I can't take it all in!

The story and characters are wonderful, well rounded and developed. I enjoyed listening to about the first half or a little more. I just feel as if it is really drawn out especially as there are, heaven knows, how many sequels/books in the series that follow it. I know the others are about the offspring but still...

It's not supposed to be Outlander

Where does Into the Wilderness rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top five

What did you like best about this story?

Not much I didn't like.

What does Kate Reading bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Decent accents.

Any additional comments?

Outlander is my favorite book, hands down. But make no mistake, this is not it, nor should it be. First off, Elizabeth just as bold and intelligent as Clair Fraser–with a little more common sense. Not once did I slap my hand to my forehead at the few less than wise choices she made. Claire on the other hand, didn't think before she acted, nor could she see Jamie's side without serious explanation or consequences.

Lots of interesting characters with stories of their own and I'm excited to read the next book. Nathaniel and Elizabeth we're equally matched, but both of them were human enough to be real. Julian was a little less dimensional, but still added quality to the story.

I liked the way the cultures were portrayed-red, white and black alike–and their interactions. The characters seemed well thought out.

It's a shame this has to be thought of in relation to Outlander. It stands on its own.

Good narration for a poor quality book

This series came highly recommended by a number of people and I thought the premise of early America was good so I dove in. I found the book stiff instead of cozy. The characters are rigid and not well written, not people you want to cozy up to a warm hearth with. I'm not a prude, and sex scenes can further a storyline, but gratuitous sex just to fill a book becomes boring unless you are reading a straight up romance novel, which that is not how this series is advertised.

Overall Wonderful!

Any additional comments?

I absolutely love this series. I was a listener of the Outlander series and looking for something just as wonderful. I read through some of the reviews and gave it a try and fell in love. I am actually about to finish the 6th book. The one thing that I want to say is if you are an Outlander fan, try not to read this book expecting it to BE Outlander. I read some of the reviews and people were very hateful about how this book shouldn't be compared to Outlander and how it will never live up to it. What I say is that of course it's not Outlander because it isn't, it can't be. This is a different author and different characters. In my opinion, if what you love about Outlander is the time period and combination of love, adventure and history then read this book. It is all of that and more!!!!!!!!!!!

A superb read!

Great read, reminded me of Outlander series. Could not put my iPod down .
Great characters, very interesting plots :), couldn't see the 30 hours go by.

Batman

All characters voiced were fine, but Nathaniel Bonner voice reminded me of Nathan's voice. Maybe it was the way he talked to Elisabeth.