My Abandonment

‘A beautiful, strange novel . . . Fascinating and moving, it tells with great tenderness how human love goes wrong’ Ursula K. Le Guin

‘The recent novel I recommend most . . . a short, disciplined, unsettling book’ Hanya Yanagihara

Thirteen-year-old Caroline and her father live in Forest Park, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. Day to day, they live in an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water’s edge, tend a garden and even keep a library of sorts. Once a week they go to the city to buy groceries and otherwise merge with the civilised world. But one small mistake allows a jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence.

Inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of its young narrator, Caroline, My Abandonment is a gripping journey into life in the wilderness and a mesmerizing tale of survival and hope.