The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

 Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020--San Antonio

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook is a science fiction novel set in the future--one that could plausibly happen.  It was on the short list for the Booker Prize this year (2020).  It follows the lives of people who have left life in the city which is a highly polluted high-rise megalopolis what covers all available land except for special designated areas for mining, for storing waste, etc., and one very special area that is closed to the public and being maintained as a wilderness.  Those who have left are a group of 20 who are admitted to the wilderness as an experiment to see if people can live there without damaging it.  They have to learn how to take care of themselves while following a book of rules.  They are supposed to move every day.  They must carry their trash (and discard it on their monthly check-ins at ranger stations), must make sure that where they have camped cannot be realized by anyone who shows up after they have left, must follow orders related to where they should head and which ranger station will be their next check-in point.  But it is also the story of one particular family--a professor of history (especially of those living in wilderness areas) whose mind glorifies the idea of going to the wilderness more than his body can handle it, his wife who goes along with the plan because their daughter is sick from the pollution in the city and who becomes a leader within the group of 20, and the daughter who adapts well to wilderness life and who, when she is a young teenager, grows into a role of being the guide for the group as they move from place to place.  It's a good book.  I didn't want to put it down.  Warner Bros. has bought the rights for the book to be made into a TV series.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.