Olivia Cram
Professor Frank
Prize Fiction
10/28/2021
The New Wilderness Book Review
The novel The New Wilderness, by Diane Cook, explores the possibilities of life after severe pollution and other environmental downfalls. This novel was a debut for Cook, a common theme among most of the 2020 Booker Prize nominees. Cook studied writing and fiction at Columbia University before successfully completing her first novel. Before completing The New Wilderness, however, Cook’s writing had appeared in other publications, including the anthologies Best American Short Stories (“Diane Cook.”). The New Wilderness highlights the story of a mother attempting to save her daughter from a city of severe pollution by subjecting them both to be a part of a study that allows individuals to move out of the city and into the Wilderness. The aim of the study was to see if people could survive in the Wilderness without destroying it. This novel stands out from the other Booker Prize nominees, as it is written as a dystopian-style fiction. I think this novel had grave potential in highlighting the effects of climate change and potentially forcing readers to think critically about their effects on the environment. However, the novel was too focused on the relationships between characters and their hardships that the actual environmental aspect acted as a backdrop for the novel. That being said, I do believe this novel was successful in portraying the hardships a mother may go through in order to protect her child.
In the other novels nominated for the Booker Prize, there was a clear, distinct societal problem the book was attempting to address. For example, This Mournable Body, by Tsitsi Dangarembga, highlighted racism, ageism and sexism towards women in Zimbabwe; Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart, highlighted inner familial conflict, alcoholism, abuse and gender fluidity; Real Life, by Brandon Taylor, highlighted racial and sexual inequality in society and at the University level. If anyone asked me what the problem The New Wilderness was attempting to address, I would respond with societal environmental impact and climate change. I do believe this is the issue the book was hoping to draw attention to. However, the novel only talks about the effects of climate change, really, when referencing the City or the experiment the characters have been involved in. Bea, the mother of Agnes, decides to participate in this experiment in order to relocate her daughter out of the City because the air was damaging her lungs. Throughout the novel, there are references to the City smog, as none of the characters want to return to the City after the experiment has been completed. Aside from this, I feel the state of this futuristic world isn’t talked about enough to encourage the reader to feel an impact about the environment. I feel Cook could have focused more on the background of the City: how the air quality got to be so terrible. If Cook had taken more time to explore the effects of the air quality on the characters in the City, or even talked about how the City progressed to this quality, it would have left the reader with more of a desire to want better for our environmental state in the present.
Although Cook may have lacked success in examining and inspiring her readers on the effects of climate change, I do believe that she did a good job in portraying the relationship between a mother and her child. Bea chose to subject herself and her daughter Agnes to this experiment in the Wilderness in order to protect her daughter from the harmful effects of the City’s air quality. Bea’s decision to choose the unknown had to have been incredibly difficult and brave, as she didn’t know what would happen to her or her daughter. She chose to make a leap in hopes to protect them both. In her attempt to protect Agnes, it felt like she lost her in different ways than she would have if they had stayed in the City. Agnes became more animalistic, and less child-like. As she grew older, she seemed to lack empathy for others and their situations, becoming more feral than humanistic. This, no doubt, was difficult for Bea to come to terms with, but she knew it to be a better alternative than what was in store for them if they had stayed in the City. Overall, Bea was willing to make very difficult decisions to benefit her child and I found this relationship to be the most impactful aspect of the novel.
In conclusion, I’m not sure I entirely understand or agree with the decision to nominate The New Wilderness for the Booker Prize. I feel the novel glanced over what could have been a very impactful argument of the novel: climate change. Climate issues served as a background for the novel where I would have liked to have seen it be more of a focus. As a reader, I did not feel the inspiration I was hoping to feel in terms of climate-focused action. While I think this was lacking, I do believe that Cook did a great job in illustrating the parental hardships and decision-making that come with having a child. In Bea’s attempt to save her daughter, she lost her in different ways.
Works Cited
Cook, Diane. The New Wilderness. Oneworld, 2021.
“Diane Cook.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2021,
