Into the Wilderness (Wilderness, #1)

Into the Wilderness (Wilderness #1)

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4.12 of 5 stars 4.12  ·  rating details  ·  10,830 ratings  ·  880 reviews
Weaving a tapestry of fact and fiction, Sara Donati's epic novel sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden affair between an unconventional Englishwoman and an American frontiersman.

It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike...more
Paperback, 912 pages
Published August 3rd 1999 by Bantam (first published 1998)
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Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur GoldenGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellThe Pillars of the Earth by Ken FollettOutlander by Diana GabaldonThe Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Best Historical Fiction
138th out of 3,145 books — 13,792 voters
Pride and Prejudice by Jane AustenOutlander by Diana GabaldonDevil in Winter by Lisa KleypasJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëGone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Favorite Historical Romance Novels
73rd out of 1,609 books — 2,740 voters


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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)
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BarkLessWagMore
I read this as an unabridged audiobook and it seemed like tape one consisted of author thank you's and an unending listing of family trees involved in her story and I assumed I'd be in way over my head with this one. I was right.

Elizabeth is a 29 year old spinster who wants nothing more than her independence and to teach young children. With this in mind, she sets out into the wilderness that is "Paradise" to join her father and brother. What she doesn't know is that her father who faces financi...more
ALPHAreader
OUTLANDER FANFICTION?

It’s impossible not to compare Donati’s series to Diana Gabaldon’s epic ‘Outlander’. Both series are historical romance, on a grand serial scale, and the marketing of Donati’s series is largely reliant on Diana Gabaldon. Not only does a Gabaldon quote appear on the front-cover of ‘Into the Wilderness’, but Donati thanks Gabaldon in her acknowledgements. And the most obvious comparison is the fact that Donati’s books are a sort of fanfiction crossover to Diana Gabaldon’s famo...more
Carolyn F.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I made the mistake of listening to someone say it was in the same vein as Outlander, which kind of ruined it for me at first. But then when I just sat back and enjoyed the book for itself, I really enjoyed it a lot.

PS How many times can I use "enjoyed" in this review - apparently 3.
Denise
I listened to the audio version of this book, an epic 30 hours of lengthy narrative, very detailed descriptions about nature, terrain, and cultures. I am sure it could have been cut down immensely, but being a Ny'er myself, I actually enjoyed the descriptions of 1792 upstate NY.
That aside, the love story between Nathaniel and Elizabeth was beautiful and filled with many road blocks and prejudice that they manage to get through. If you have ever read The Last of the Mohicans you will recognize...more
Mitzi
I listened to this book and liked it a lot. Not up to Outlander quality, but still very good and I’m looking forward to next book in series.
Karen
Getting old has its perks. I read this series a few years ago but only remembered two things about it: (1) I really liked it, and (2) the author has each and every character "raising one eyebrow" way too often. But despite that slight annoyance, this series of 3 early-America-wilderness books really appeals to me. As I recently admitted to myself, I'm a sucker for historical novels set in this time period and location. Donati is a good writer and is accurate in her depictions of the lives, lands...more
Meagan
A poignant love story set in upstate New York in the 1700’s. The story is based around Elizabeth Middleton, a spinster school teacher freshly out of England intending to teach the children of her father’s community. However, enter Nathaniel Bonner, strikingly handsome and a rare mix of Native American traditions and white man influence. Here begins the story of forbidden love, adventure, romance, and history tied into a story which has Nathaniel and Elizabeth marrying secretly and running away b...more
Milla Diaz
This book was freaking 900 pages long but I've always been interested in historicals about Native Americans. My major complaint was the heroine. Accidentally shooting her husband was just one of the many stupid things she did throughout the book.
Nancy Schober
I was so excited to see the names of the characters in the first 10 pages. This is sequel to 'Last of the Mohicans' sorta. It's a continuation of the Daniel Day Lewis movie, not the book, not the Masterpiece Theater mini-series.[return][return]A very predictable romance in a wonderful story and time period. Nice tie-in with the 'Outlander' series. If you can't get enough of those, and who can? This might tide you over until the next Gabaldon book. The heroine was pretty much a stock character, b...more
Amy Holloway
To call this series historical romance, I think, only scratches the surface of what makes these books so compelling for me. It's the richness of characters and the family saga against the landscape of a newly formed nation that kept me engaged through all 6 books. I haven't read the Highlander series, so can't speak to that comparison. These novels remind me of the sweeping family sagas of John Jakes and James Michener, for those who can remember that far back. In fact this series begs for a scr...more
Elaine
Wow, everyone seemed to have loved this book, I was bored. Felt very "been there, done that" for me. America, after the war for independence. We treated the Native Americans awfully, white men dressed like Natives are hot - hot enough to turn the eye of a woman newly to America...who abandons her "white" world to live with him in the wild. A love story, a scorned lover, a misbegotten brother...just felt like I have read and seen this on TV before. The book was written in 1999, so my comments are...more
Corinne
Set in a remote, mountainous New York village, in a United States that has only just won its independence, Into the Wilderness is the story of Elizabeth Middleton, recently of England. Trying to control her own destiny with a determined nature and a deep desire for equality, the village of Paradise seems to be designed to drive Elizabeth crazy. With the strain of relations between the natives, part-natives and the white newcomers, in a world where life seems to sometimes hang by a thread, Elizab...more
Charlynn
We live in a world of convenience, of global communication, of safety and security. While the wonder and benefits of modern technologies cannot be argued with, they do tend to make everything smaller – the world and the dangers within it, the necessities of life less immediate, and, therefore, life has become less adventurous over the decades, and centuries, and millenniums. Excitement is now manufactured, not natural and certainly not often life and death in nature. However, this is not the cas...more
SummerAmethyst
Ok, so really I am only about 1/2 way through this book, so it may or may not be fair to give a full review. But I am going to write one anyway because I can't say for sure that I will be finishing the book. I gave it 3 stars because over all the story isn't bad and there are some good points about it. The characters are pretty likeable or unlikeable depending on what we are supposed to think of them and the plot is pretty decent with enough description to allow you to "see" what the character i...more
Someone
I've only read about 6 chapters so my review will be biased.
I just couldn't stand the elongated sentence structures and the completely general story line which is seemingly predictable.
I can clearly see how the author is talented in writing out a lovely picture of the scene, but some of the paragraphs she wrote just made me cringe at how much commas and 'and's she used. For example, "Here and there laundry had been hung out and shirts and trousers and sheets seemed to be standing sentry, frozen...more
Donna
I read this book as part of the ARRT historical fiction genre study in the subsection of romantic historical sagas. I don't usually read romance so it's always a bit of a burden getting started on these books, but once I jumped in I enjoyed it. The bit I liked most was its setting: upstate New York immediately after the War for Independence. Reviews indicate that this book is based on characters in Cooper's "The Last of the Mahicans," but I haven't read that book so I was a little worried I woul...more
Lisa (Harmonybites)
Jun 06, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No One
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
The book had blurbs praising it from romance writers Diana Gabaldon and Amanda Quick and the trade magazine Romantic Times. Not a good sign I'd like it, if this was being marketed to those who frequent the romance aisle. The prose was more readable than most books I've read marketed as romance, even if hardly stellar, but what killed this novel for me is how it takes the "historical" out of historical fiction.

This is set in the New York frontier in 1793, dealing with the twenty-nine-year-old El...more
Melissa
This book was suggested to me after reading Outlander. And indeed, this book even has a recommendation from Outlander's author. However, with only a brief blurb about that famous novel's characters, I would say that this novel was more of its own than a tribute to Outlander. That being said it does fit the genre of historic fiction with a bit of romance thrown in.

Elizabeth has recently arrived from England with her brother Julian to live with their father in Paradise, New York. A self described...more
Bethan
Very good beginning to a bril series. Historical romance/adventure. Takes awhile to get into but is well worth the wait. All the Native American info/characters is particularly interesting, adding some flavour.

Elizabeth Bonner travels thousands of miles from her English home Oakmere to Paradise, a village in the Mohawk Valley of New York state. She arrives in the midst of a snow blizzard to a world polls apart from everything she has known.

One of the first people she meets is Nathaniel Bonner,...more
Linda C
Sadly, this book didn't really capture my interest, especially since I had hear such good things about it. It was closer to a bodice-ripper than it is to Outlander.

It was entertaining enough, and I may, at some point, pick up the next one in the series, but the central plot, i.e. the romance between Nathaniel and Elizabeth, didn't grab me. I just didn't get it. While there were moments that Nathaniel was rather sexy (the long dark hair, the silver earring), at the end of the day, he was a backwo...more
Virginia
So this is a tome of a book, set in the northeast US in the late 1700s, about a woman who comes to the US from England to be a schoolteacher and ends up falling in love with a man who was more or less raised as a Native American, and currently lives as one. Hijinks ensue. I really enjoyed the historical details, but I was disappointed to find out, about halfway through, that this is the first book in a series. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but when you're reading the sort of book wh...more
Marguerite
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Belinda
For any Diana Gabaldon fans, rejoice, my friends, rejoice!

I know you've waited a long time for more Claire and Jamie, with *years* between sequals. You can bridge that horrible gap with my new find, Sara Donati.

OK, I admit, I've only read the first book. But it had that headstrong female character, the dangerous-but-charming love interest, the chorus of earthy and interesting background characters. All are positioned against a distant time in history where life was hard (really hard, dammit, no...more
Maliha
Something must be very wrong with me since I did not LOVE this novel despite all its 5 star reviews. I am a huge fan of the Outlander series and pretty much anything Diana Gabaldon decides to write so I read Into the Wilderness because of her praise and her fans' praise for this novel. And I have to say that it was just OKAY; it was not bad. The author definitely put a good amount of research into the story but it failed complexity. The characters were not as developed as they could have been an...more
Minty McBunny
Uuuugh, I give! I suppose if you are into bodice rippers and this era, it could be an enjoyable story, but I found it all more than faintly silly and not at all realistic or interesting. None of the characters engaged me at any point, they all just seemed flimsy, more like ideas of people rather than flesh and blood.

The Outlander comparison and the Diana Gabaldon quote had me approaching this book with a mixture of hope and skepticism.

A friend sent me Outlander and it took me 3 years to actual...more
Cam
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Melanie
In a silly move I read some of the reviews posted about this novel. I tend to disagree with some of the comments about Diana Galbadon's comparison. Granted, I have only just begun to read her novel "Cross Stitch" (I'm the kind of person that those marketing people like, the sort easily made to buy something by association.) But Donati creates a brilliant setting with great a great female presence in a time when women were repressed and controlled absolutely by a man's power. Credit is due here,...more
Sarah
LOVED this!!!! I went out at bought the next in the series before I was even finished with this one. And it is the PERFECT cure for my Outlander cravings (for now).

I originally picked this up for $1 in a used bookstore because I saw that Diana Gabaldon (Outlander author) praised it on the cover. THEN I read online sometime later that Ian, Claire, and Jamie from Outlander actually made an appearance in this book, and I started it right away.

This is the beginning of the story of Elizabeth Middleto...more
Sherry
I still LOVE this book. While I know a lot of people want to compare it to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, I like this better. Not sure if that is because I read this first or what. I felt that the books are NOT as similar as a lot people want to think.

I have already reviewed other versions of this book, so if you want a little more detail you can go look at that.

This time around I thought I would give the audiobook version a go. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the person reading the stor...more
Melissa
Couldn't finish it. Everyone claimed it was written in the same vein as Outlanderand The Bronze Horseman, but it didn't even come close. Maybe the comparison is what fueled my disappointment ...
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Finding ebook of Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati in Australia 6 45 Feb 07, 2013 11:17am  
Favorite Scene ...? 9 57 Oct 16, 2012 10:28am  
The Book Addicts!: Book with Outlander Characters in it 3 131 Jul 12, 2012 07:25am  
Into the Wilderness (Paperback)
Into the Wilderness (Wilderness #1)
Into the Wilderness (Wilderness, #1)
Into the Wilderness (ebook)
Into the Wilderness

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Sara Donati is a pen name of Rosina Lippi. Notice: Sara does not age. Rosina does. R is also here on Goodreads; any and all reviews will show up under Rosina Lippi, so she's the one to follow. Sara just sits here eating bonbons.
More about Sara Donati...
Dawn on a Distant Shore (Wilderness, #2) Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3) Fire Along the Sky (Wilderness, #4) Queen of Swords (Wilderness, #5) The Endless Forest (Wilderness, #6)

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“Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, overly educated and excessively rational, knowing right from wrong and fancy from fact, woke in a nest of marten and fox pelts to the sight of an eagle circling overhead, and saw at once that it could not be far to Paradise.” 19 people liked it
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