"The New Wilderness" by Diane Cook

An audio book. Booker long-listed.

The cities are so polluted that adults living there struggle and children die. Bea's child Agnes was sickly. They joined Glen (a lecturer) on a research project to see how a group of people interact with nature - it's becoming a lost way of life. The group have to live by strict rules in the wilderness so as not to damage the land. Rangers check on them. Bob's the only ranger they trust. They have to go on season-long treks. There are rumoured to be Private Land, where it's easy to live in nature. Nearly half the group have died or given up before the novel begins - 11 are left. The group members have become used to deaths - another member, Val, who's always been desperate for a child, gets washed away early in the book while crossing a river. Bea miscarriages in the first chapter.

Val returns. Her partner Karl doesn't seem overjoyed. A previous woman who died is missed less than the knife she had with her. Karl is attracted to Bea, the storyteller. There's a power struggle between Glen and his ex-student Karl. They break into a deserted rangers' station. They're excited by the vending machine, toilet rolls, mirrors. They collect their mail. Bea discovers that her mother has been diagnosed, treated and has died. She jumps on a truck and leaves.

Later: Some newcomers join - the group now is back to 20 people. There's a long waiting list to join. The original members are excited by the newcomers' colours and news but find them naive. The youths interest Agnes, who is trying to understand emotions. Those of the newcomers puzzle her. They treat Karl like the leader. Glen is losing weight, ill. He sleeps alone in a cave. The others change voting from consensus to majority.

After a year, Bea returns. She pushes Val out of Karl's bed and has sex with him. The 2 now lead the group. Val becomes pregnant. Agnes, maybe 14 now, is the orienteer for the group. When seeking water, she trusts the movement of herds more than maps. She has a partner and wants a child. She miscarriages early. Glen dies. When Val's baby makes a noise, female animals are curious.

They discover there are others ("mavericks") in the wilderness. One of them briefly joins their group.

They're told the project is going to end. They can either return to the city or help round up the mavericks and go to the Private Lands. Some of the group, Agnes included, run off but not Bea. She's been communicating with Bob for a while. She trusts him.

Finally the 2000 mavericks and group rebels are collected. Agnes was in the wild for 13 years. New towns are created and Agnes is resettled.

The back-story is both shown and told. Events are retold. Commune politics prevail, with ambivalent attitude to rules. Why are the rangers so strict? What's in it for the government? I wasn't impressed by the book.

Other reviews

• Téa Obreht ( The harsh, dazzling setting seems to be one of the few things to which the characters react with much awe or emotion – but for me, their ambivalence toward so many other aspects of life comes at a cost. ... Characters united by little else are united in their ambivalence. They see each other in vague and general terms. They seem to have little understanding of one another as actual people with pasts and vulnerabilities. The objective here may be to show us how people living with the expectation of death don’t put much stock in each other’s individuality; but its unintended effect is to distance the reader.)
• Hephzibah Anderson ()
• Kirkus reviews (The viewpoint shifts over time from prickly, tormented Bea, whose romantic loyalties are unclear but whose motherly protectiveness is fiercely all-consuming, to Agnes, who grows up in a world where natural order trumps human-made rules.)