A History of Wild Places: A Novel

I love to read, however I sometimes have a hard time getting sucked into a book enough to want to finish it. The first chapter or two were a little hard for me because when a man is the main character I start to lose interest (I like to be able to somehow relate to the main character). After the first few chapters the book starts jumping from several characters points of view, which helped hold my interest.This was definitely a story that made me sit back and think. I definitely didn’t see the outcome coming, it wasn’t “obvious”, or at least to me it wasn’t 😂. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and recommend it to my book loving friends.

“But this is how monsters are made: from innocent things.” - A History of Wild Places.Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books—he’s led to a place many believed to be only a legend. Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it… he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James. Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease—rot—into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed—and that darkness takes many forms.I absolutely adore all of Shea Ernshaw’s books and was looking forward to this new release. Needless to say, it was amazing! The book is full of atmosphere, mystery, and interesting characters so it was hard to put down. Her books are even more special to me because I live in the PNW so the scenery is so familiar and quite magical. I always find myself lost in her descriptions and totally invested in the worlds she creates. I won’t say too much about this one, because I think you should go in blind, but if you haven’t picked this book up yet please do!

This story has been haunting me since I finished it! I can't get it out of my head. Ernshaw truly knows the art of storytelling. The way her stories unfold are just flawless and utterly gripping. And AHOWP is no exception!Ultimately, AHOWP is about discovering #whathappenedtomaggiestjames.When the story begins, Travis Wren, a man with an unusual knack and preternatural way of finding people, is closing in on Maggie's last steps and what seems like on the brink of finding her... he also disappears.Years later, in a remote community called Pastoral, Theo finds evidence of Travis' investigation into Maggie's disappearance, and he, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, begin uncovering a mystery that's both shocking and sinister plaguing their once believed peaceful community.Filled with secrets and deception and strange happenings, AHWOP is a poignant tale that will definitely leave you feeling shook... and yet somehow also... bittersweetly whole and nostalgically content.🌲 READ THIS IF YOU LIKE 🌲— multiple POVs— books about books— M. Night Shyamalan's “The Village”— cozy mysteries— atmospheric storytelling— the past, memories, the mind— feeling shook and having your mind blown 😧😱🤯Potential Content Warnings: substance abuse, suicide, death/murder

I was initially drawn in by the rave reviews on the book jacket. Critics lauded it with glowing praise. I was intrigued by Travis Wren, and his psychic gift for locating missing people. He’s been hired to find popular children’s book author, Maggie St. James, who mysteriously disappeared from a wooded area. So far, I’m in. Then, Travis vanishes as well, when he stumbles upon the long-forgotten community of Pastoral, a bucolic, vaguely sinister commune, untouched by time. The quiet residents haven’t seen a stranger in over a decade, due to the fear that a plague-like illness lurks just outside the safety of Pastoral’s perimeter.Here, my interest began to wane. The story took on a strong cult vibe with M. Night Shyamalan-esque overtones. The townspeople blindly follow a controlling, maniacal “leader”, while clearly being psychologically manipulated with the pervasive threat of a fatal disease. Ernshaw has written a dark, ethereal and atmospheric tale of both real and imagined danger. The natural backdrop is vividly depicted, but often overshadows the actual characters, who aren’t compelling enough to carry the story. The book had such a a promising premise and some lyrical moments, but the pacing was too uneven to remain consistently engaging.

This book wove several ideas together. I could not figure out what was going to happen next. A psychic? A cult? Lies? A mystery. While there were some echoes of The Village, this book took a completely different turn.

Was a Christmas gift for my mom, she reads a lot but also felt like it wasn’t the type of book she typically would pick herself. Well she LOVED and then gave it to me to read. It was really enjoyable, interesting story. Passing it off to my aunt next. Hope she likes it as much as we did

… in Shea Earnshaw’s first adult novel. I‘ve read two of her YA books before and especially „Winterwood“ was a book I absolutely loved. These previous novels were rooted strongly in magical realism, which I love, so I was wondering, what I would get here. And noooo, it’s not a magical realism story, but there is a very gripping mystery to unravel here and the atmosphere is unsettling to say the least.The book starts with Travis Wren investigating the disappearance of the famous writer Maggie St. James. She wrote dark children’s fairytales about a place called the underground, a fey place, where strange creatures and monsters dwell, and one day went away and never came back. Travis is on her trail into the woods…. And the story switches to Bee, Theo and Calla, three inhabitants of the secluded settling of „Pastoral“. The community was founded in the seventies, and is forgotten by the world around it. Amd the people living there never go outside the village‘s boundaries for fear of the rot, an illness that is killing people and is spreading in the wood around them.So it took me a while to get into it all: the break from Travis and his POV to Pastoral, the slow life there, the many people keeping secrets. But the oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere in the village (very Shyamalan) and especially the hints at something strange that must have happened, hinted at with the inserted excerpts from Maggie‘s book, these kept me reading. At the end, l couldn’t lay it down again.So I don’t love it as much as „Winterwood“, but it’s a very cool story, with amazing twists and fabulously written atmosphere. Oh and I would so love to actually read the „book in the book“: I wish there really were „Foxtail“ books to be bought and read!

What a beautiful story! Even though I wouldn’t class this as a thriller, I did find it ticked quite a few of the boxes. A stunningly written story with so much wonder and beauty to it. I really did not want it to end - who doesn’t sometimes dream of fairytale style life, away from all the trappings of the modern day world, the only problem is, would you want to give away any knowledge of the outside world, the real you, or the ability to think for yourself, for it? I’ve not read anything like it before - I’ll be thinking about this story for quite some time.

At first I was really confused and then it just sucked me in. Wow such a good book with a twist!

Shea Ernshaw does not disappoint, yet again! This was absolutely delicious. A totally unexpected outcome. Wow.