Wild Life by Molly Gloss takes readers to 1905 America in the Pacific Northwest when logging was tearing through forests and civilization was a small town on the Columbia River. Our heroine is Charlotte Bridger Drummond, writer of popular adventure novels, mother of five boys, and widow or abandoned wife (we never know for sure and neither does Charlotte).
When the book opens Charlotte is living a happy existence, escaping everyday to a shed in the yard to write while Melba, a woman she has hired, takes care of the house and her children. Charlotte is a staunch feminist and a woman with opinions who is not afraid to express them. She also tries her hardest to scandalize as many people as she can by her cigar smoking and riding around town on a bicycle while wearing men’s pants. She is a stark contrast to Melba who is motherly and believes that cooking and cleaning and raising children is what a woman is supposed to do.
Not a lot happens for the first third of the book and I found myself disliking Charlotte quite a lot. She is so concerned about not being put down because she is a woman that she goes overboard in not allowing herself to exhibit typical female traits. When word comes down the river that Harriet, Melba’s granddaughter, who was at a logging camp with her father, has gone missing in the woods, Charlotte makes light of Melba being upset and worried to the point of it being rather cruel and heartless.
When it becomes clear that Harriet really is missing, Charlotte decides she will go up to the logging camp herself and help in the search. Even though she has no experience in the woods, she figures she has written enough adventure stories that she can handle herself. Plus, even when she arrives at the remote logging camp, Charlotte still believes that somehow, even after the loggers have been looking for Harriet for a week, she, Charlotte will miraculously find the girl alive and well albeit a bit hungry and dirty.
But events don’t work out that way and after several days of searching, Charlotte gets separated from the search party and quickly finds herself impossibly lost. But she has a compass and a little food and decides that she can find her way back to camp. Three days later and still lost, she has to admit that she was wrong.
Spring in the Pacific Northwest is a generally damp affair and while the season had begun drier than usual, this quickly changes. Charlotte has to contend with the wet and the cold and without food or any knowledge of what she might be able to eat in the forest, she comes to understand she is in rather dire straits.
But there is something else in the forest besides bears and dear and mountain lions. “Wild men,” hairy “giants” or what we might call “Bigfoot” or “Sasquatch” are also in the forest. Charlotte comes across a family consisting of a mother and three children. She begins to follow them and eat what they eat. Eventually she becomes an adopted part of the family.
When I write it out like that it sounds stupid and hokey but it isn’t. Being reduced to living like what Charlotte at first believes are simply gentle and shy animals, strips away nearly all the “human” from Charlotte. And while it is cliche to learn about what being human means from creatures other than humans, it is handled in such a matter-of-fact way without being sentimental or didactic that I liked this part of the book best which surprised me because I was expecting to not like it. Charlotte eventually returns to civilization a changed woman to say the least.
I liked the book but I didn’t love it. The pacing is a bit off especially in the beginning. One thing I did really like about the book is the way it is structured. It is basically Charlotte’s journal with news articles, pieces of stories Charlotte has written, character sketches, and various other documents interleaved. While Charlotte is lost in the woods she continues keeping the journal. The journal provides comfort, documentation, a lifeline, and an outlet for her voice. When Charlotte returns to the world of people, she is unable to speak for quite some time but still manages to continue writing. Charlotte’s writing is the thread she holds onto throughout the story that keeps her sane, keeps her from completely losing herself.
After the book ended I found myself wondering what sort of person Charlotte would become next, how much of the wild would she retain? Could she, can any of us, keep in contact with the wild parts of ourselves? And if so, what would that mean? What would such a life look like? Any book that prompts one to think about such things is definitely worthwhile.
Wild Life is the latest Slaves read. You can follow along or join the discussion at the blog or on the Slaves forum.
I am ashamed to say I could not bring myself to finish the novel–but your post makes me think perhaps if I keep going (I’ve just got to the part where she falls in with the sasquatches) I might get more engaged, rather than less. I am not liking Charlotte much either, partly because she seems too much a collage of details and arguments about women and women writers at this time. I kept thinking I’d rather be reading the real thing, if that makes sense. I’m keen to follow the posts on this one, precisely because I reached such a dead end with it.
That sounds interesting, and of course I love the setting.
Rohan, I know what you mean about Charlotte being like a collage. In the beginning I frequently found myself thinking, “oh just stop it already!” And I just expected it to get worse, but by the end of the book, while I still didn’t like Charlotte, the story for me became more interesting and less about Charlotte and more about bigger questions.
wherethereisjoy, heh, yes, your old stomping grounds
This sounds interesting to me just because I grew up in that area, and my father’s family (generation ago) were loggers. Charlotte’s character doesn’t sound very likable, I’m wondering if I could make it to sasquatches.
I seem to have had a reverse reading experience with this one. She is certainly a brash sort of character–maybe Gloss made her so to show the change in her after she had experienced such a ‘wild life’.
I agree about liking this but not loving it. I was entertained and engaged through much of the book, but somehow the various pieces of it didn’t come together for me. My favorite aspect was the survival story, and also the theorizing about writing. It’s interesting how she comes to terms with the fact that she is not a “serious” writer, or wasn’t at that point in her life.
It’s very intriguing to read everyone’s responses to this book, and I wish I’d planned my time better so I could have joined you all. I’m wondering how the parts of this fit together – does the feminist perspective have anything to say about her return to nature with the creatures in the woods? I must come over and join the discussion – they are always good!
Jeane, you might enjoy the book given your family background. Charlotte is not very likeable at first so if you have a hard time reading books with main characters you don’t like, then you may want to skip it.
Danielle, calling Charlotte brash is a great description! I thought it was interesting when I read your write up about it that you liked the beginning better
Rebecca, I liked the survival story best too especially since I’ve been camping in the area the story takes place in. That was an interesting bit about coming to terms with not being a serious writer. Something, I’m sure quite a few authors have to do.
Litlove, you know, the feminist perspective pretty much disappears once Charlotte gets lost and it becomes a matter of survival. There might be an argument in there somewhere though that her feminism helped her survive because it made her strong and self-confident.
I read this book long before I had a blog — but if I had reviewed it, I think it would have sounded much like your post! You’ve captured everything I felt about it. However, the fact that I can still remember the reading experience ten years on does say something about how strongly it imprinted itself on my brain, does it not?
Melwyk, that it has stuck with you for so long is a good sign. Even though I didn’t love the book, I am still glad I read it.