Wildlands

The Wildlands are an ecological reserve stretching from Manchester to Glasgow where the original inhabitants (animals and plants!!) of the British Isles have been reintroduced. From shrubs to wolves The Wildlands takes its conservation seriously. To travel the country a high-speed rail has been introduced stretching from London to Glasgow and it is on this rail service, somewhere in the middle of the Reserve, that we are introduced to our protagonist Astrid. Astrid is slightly less enthused about her surroundings than her sister Indie – both have a special connection to The Wildlands – that being their Ma was one of its co-founders! Astrid is shouldering a lot of responsibility – looking after her little sister and making sure she keeps her cool whilst holding on to a big secret.

Via a series of poor decisions, the sisters are thrust into survival mode when their train leaves them behind – and they rise magnificently to the challenge. The action comes thick and fast and both Astrid and Indie must use all their powers of deduction and survival instincts to stay alive. They encounter a whole myriad of wildlife – including a very unhelpful moose – on their adventures and come up against the harsh realities of a world which humans have left behind.

Although action-packed, Murphy manages to keep our main characters emotional journey at the centre of the story. Astrid’s fears around sharing a huge secret with her sister keep the momentum of this book pushing forward. Murphy also does a brilliant job of tackling the human cost of ecological preservation through a class-based lens – not an easy task and one that they present brilliantly. At the core of this book is a story about tenacity, sisterly love and hope all wrapped up in a brilliant adventure. Chapter after chapter is filled with emotional depth, adventurist dilemmas and thought-provoking conversation starters around what Britain’s ecological future might look like – a brilliant read!