A History Of Wild Places

A History of Wild Places (2021) is Shea Ernshaw’s adult debut. It blends elements of magical realism, mystery, and thriller. The novel focuses on an isolated community called Pastoral, a rural commune where a missing writer of macabre children’s books was last seen. Ernshaw’s previously published works include YA titles The Wicked Deep (2018), Winterwood (2019), and A Wilderness of Stars (2022). Ernshaw’s work often includes wilderness settings inspired by her time spent living in Oregon.

In A History of Wild Places, Ernshaw alludes to the pastoral tradition popular in Renaissance poetry and explores themes related to isolated community living: The Insidious Nature of Deceit and The Ideal Versus Reality of Off-Grid Existence. The inclusion of the writer character lends the novel a metafictional component, which enables Ernshaw to explore The Power and Darkness of Fairy Tales as a theme.

This guide refers to the 2021 US Atria edition.

Content Warning: This guide refers to death by suicide.

Plot Summary

Travis Wren has an uncanny ability to see other people’s memories when he handles objects they have touched. He uses this ability to find missing people, hoping it will alleviate his internal conflict in the wake of his sister, Ruth, dying by suicide, which he feels responsible for.