Wilderness 
Author: Roddy Doyle
Date of Publishing: September 2007
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 81-7655-909-1
Price: Rs. 200
Age: 12+

I think one of the most exciting things brewing in children’s literature today is to see writers of fiction (read: Books for adults/ older readers) turning towards children’s writing. It’s a sure sign that this genre is finally coming of age and writers, publishers and educators are giving it its rightful due. Roddy Doyle (of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha fame and 1993 Booker winner) is one such writer who’s steadily bringing out books for young readers. He began with the absolutely enjoyable The Giggler Treatment (2000) followed by Rover Saves Christmas (2001) and The Meanwhile Adventures (2004), and now a novel for teenagers, Wilderness.

Wilderness is not irreverent or laugh-out-loud funny in the usual Roddy Doyle style. But it’s a book that is flawless and superbly written.

In a Dublin suburb, Frank Griffin lives with his daughter Gráinne, wife Sandra and their two sons Johnny and Tom. Frank’s first wife Rosemary (Gráinne’s mother) left them many years ago and they have heard that she has since moved to America. Frank married Sandra when Gráinne was six and all was well until Gráinne’s teenage years brought troubled times to the family. The situation comes to a peak when they receive news that Rosemary is visiting Dublin and wants to meet her daughter.

For a respite from the tensions at home, and to allow Gráinne and Rosemary their time together, Sandra takes her boys on a winter safari to Finland. In the wilderness, in the company of the beautiful huskies, Johnny and Tom come into their own. They are thrilled to be there, the only children on the safari. And in the company of Aki and Kalle, the guides, they make their acquaintance with the huskies. 

The thrill of the wilderness takes a turn when their mother fails to return with her sled one night. Johnny and Tom decide to go on a rescue mission with the dogs. Meanwhile in Dublin, Rosemary is trying hard to reach out to her daughter but after such a long gap, Gráinne isn’t sure she can find her mother in this woman.

Do the children find their mothers’ forms the rest of the novel. It’s a touching story without an overdose of sentimentality. I especially like the way the boys and the huskies relate to each other and for those who don’t understand or acknowledge the interdependence of man and animals, this drives home the point.

Doyle taught English and Geography and it was only after the release of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha in 1993 did he give it up to become a fulltime writer.  

Aravinda A.