Weaving a tapestry of fact and fiction, Sara Donati’s epic novel sweeps us into another time and place . . . and into a breathtaking story of love and survival in a land of savage beauty.It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a … And she meets a man unlike any she has ever encountered—a white man dressed like a Native American: Nathaniel Bonner, known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, Elizabeth soon finds herself locked in conflict with the local slave owners as well as with her own family. Interweaving the fate of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati’s compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portait of an emerging America.
Praise for Into the Wilderness
“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
“A beautiful tale of both romance and survival…Here is the beauty as well as the savagery of the wilderness and, at the core of it all, the compelling story of the love of a man and a woman, both for the untamed land and for one another.”—Allan W. Eckert
“Lushly written . . . Exemplary historical fiction.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Epic in scope, emotionally intense.”—BookPage
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I love Elizabeth and Nathaniel. This is a great series about the same two characters and their families in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. It’s very different but Nathaniel Bonner is one of my favorite heroes.
Sara Donati is an excellent writer and expertly brings the reader into 18th century colonial American complete with attitudes, politics and challengs of living in those early days. I felt like a neighbor watching the story unfold. Loved the relationship between Elizabeth and her Nathaniel!
How did I not discover Sara Donati’s Wilderness Series until now? This first book is an amazing early-frontier-America action-adventure romance so gritty and real I feel like I’ve lived in Paradise myself. The characters just popped off the page. If you liked Heaven In His Arms, you’ll *adore* this!
Upper New York State in post-Revolutionary America is the setting for this love story. A young British woman and her brother arrive in the wild woods of New York to join their father who has a large spread there. The cast of characters includes Indians, half-breeds, freed slaves, and slaves along with the Revolutionary era settlers living in the hamlet of Paradise. The main conflict has to do with the mistrust between the Indians and the whites, the desire for land and its wealth, and the actions of the mean, belligerant characters who exist in every time and place. The book includes one or two Easter Eggs for fans of Gabaldon’s “Outlander” novels.
This entire series should not be missed by anyone interested in historical fiction!!!!
Anyone who’s read and loved the Outlander series must read this epic early American series. It’s not a time-travel book genre but when reading these adventures, any fan of history will love the writer’s attention to detail – it’s as if you’re experiencing life in the late 1700s!
Elizabeth Middleton, the main character, a twenty-nine year old spinster, has come to Paradise. Ohio, to open a school. Fiercely independent, she travels with her father and brother without being aware that they h ave the ulterior motive of marrying her off to Dr. Richard Todd. In exchange, Judge Middleton will sign over the two thousand acres that includes Wolf Mountain, and Richard will dismiss the Judge’s debt of over $10,000. Elizabeth will have none of it, especially since she is attracted to Nathaniel Bonner, a rough appearing woodsman and hunter. Many more characters are important in this book, but especially Nathaniel’s family. It is hard to put into words the depth of this book (which is more than 800 pages long). Donati explores themes of family, revenge, repression of women, duplicity, greed, passion, coming of age, and sacrifice. Most of all Donati explores the eighteenth century enmity between native peoples and the people who are claiming and settling land without regard or compensation, and their clash of cultures and mutual distrust. This book is amazing on many levels, and I would highly recommend it.
This was the best series I have read in a long time . One of those wonderful books that is so good you don’t want it to end!
Great book. Full of adventure and interesting characters.
Everything you want in a rich description of a historical adventure with fascinating characters, a strong women lead and a swoon-worthy manly man. I don’t want to compare outlander, but certainly in the category along with Jean Auel’ s Earth Children series. loved every minute of the storey!!!
Epic. I’ve read this book several times, and thoroughly enjoyed it every time. Great story line, great characters, you end up living in their world.
I loved this book, reminded me of Outlander. I have now read four of the books in the series and almost finished book five. Have throughly enjoyed the story and feel like I know the characters. What I really enjoyed is learning about the area and so much about Native American people and their cultures. I would and have recommended this series to friends who love the Outlander series.
This story took me to the time and place where Lizzy traveled from England to New York State to live with her father and her brother. She is planning on starting a school for the children of the farmers and trappers and in doing so meets Nathanial Bonner who is living with the native Americans. His mom was native and has passed away but his dad still lives in the territory.
The life is hard and it takes Lizzy a while to fit in with the rest of the town as her father is the local judge and she is looked at as upper class and there is doubt that she will have an understanding of how the people live with hardship every day.
In the end she is loved and loving.
A great book. I have just started book 2.
I loved this book as it transported me to the wilderness of an ever growing North America. I can’t wait to read the following two books in the series. Simply waiting for a book bub deal to happen.
Great read.
I love reading this novel and the whole series. In fact every 10 years I re-read them all. Its just a nice simple love story. Very well written.
Captivating historical series. Best I’ve read since Outlander
One of the best books I’ve ever read. Ms. Donati is on a par with Gabaldon. This book is the first in a series, and that will make you happy. I hated to come to the end of the series.
Lovers of historical fiction, if you haven’t already discovered Sara Donati, you really need to. “Into the Wilderness” resumes the “Last of the Mohicans” story. The entire series is delightful. Highly recommend.
I don’t know how to review this book.
It was the longest book I’ve listened to.
The narration was amazing!
There were soo many intimate scenes it became annoying! They were descriptive yet I would conclude that they are considered open door bedroom scenes. I admit I skipped several especially as I got further into the book! I think the book would be a lot more enjoyable without all those carnal details!!
The story pulled me in though and I couldn’t put it down! The prim older spinster English woman falls for the America frontiersman raised by Native Americans in the area of Upstate NY that we just moved from. I have been to many of the towns where this story takes place and I love the history of that beautiful area!
This story speaks of the towns of Johnstown, and Albany, the waters of Lake George and the Sacandaga River, and the tribes of the Mohawk and the Adirondack.
It seemed to me this is a series but written as an all in one boxset. The stories changed several times even though it had several main characters throughout this book. But then it just ended with a strange scene so out of place, it must have another book to finish the tale…