National Network for Equitable Library Service

A feral girl roams the dense forests of nineteenth-century France. In the village of Freyzus, she is chased by suspicious townspeople to the edge of a gorge, where she jumps and disappears, vanishing into village legend. On the other side of the gorge, in an abandoned estate, Peyre Rouff lives out his self-imposed exile following a horrific hunting accident, focussing all of his attention on intricate taxidermic dioramas. When Peyre encounters the wild girl, they find a link in their mutual estrangement from society and the two achieve an easy coexistence. But when the wider world learns of the girl's presence at the estate, Peyre is forced to confront not only his choices and their consequences, but society itself. In The Hunter and the Wild Girl, award-winning author Pauline Holdstock spins a haunting tale affirming the persistence of life, the power of human connection, and the fundamental urge to be free. Pauline Holdstock is the award-winning author of six novels.