Wild Aster

by Anna Hogeland

"A novel that marries the feel of a timeless classic with a sharp, contemporary sensibility” (Alexis Schaitkin) about a woman with a talent for survival, whose life spans the early twentieth century.

Mae Smith starts her life as a stolen good: her biological mother, Ida, kidnaps her from her adoptive parents, and Mae grows up on the run, constantly changing towns and names, never able to find a home. After her mother's death, Mae is determined to live a different kind of life. But over the next half century, as she reinvents herself against the backdrop of the Depression and Second World War and pursues stability amid the personal upheavals of marriage and motherhood, she must reckon with the choices she's made and life's inexorable turns.

For readers of Alice McDermott, Anita Diamant, and Maggie Shipstead, Wild Aster explores the price of security, the drive to be a different mother than your own, and the daily gains and losses that define who we become. Ultimately, Mae's story challenges us to confront the choices we make for personal fulfillment and family obligation and the perseverance that even a seemingly ordinary life demands.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical, Audiobook, Adult

416 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication December 1, 2026

Reviews

[Angela M]

This novel provides a wide range of issues through the years between 1910 and 1955 with a focus on women and their place in American society and how strong independent women struggle to cope in a world with defined expectations.

Ida, a pregnant unwed teenager gives her daughter up to a family member, until her love and instincts kick in, and she steals her away to keep her safe . Even though it means she will be living on the run and raising her alone, Ida knows this is what she must do. The bulk of the novel, though focuses on Mae’s life , the child born from that pregnancy.

Marital problems, infidelity, women’s independence, post partum depression and heartbreaking tragedy shape her story. What happens to Mae during those decades made me angry at times and very sad as she bears the brunt of juggling her independence with the responsibilities of motherhood. I wanted to smack her pediatrician husband who keeps wanting her to have more children and doesn’t see how at 26 with three toddlers she is struggling . I also wanted to smack the doctor who told her she needed her husband’s permission to get a diaphragm. What we find out towards the end of the book about these two men made me cringe .

I rooted for Mae every step of the way as she tries to follow Ida’s guidance when she thinks she can’t do something : “Become a woman who can. You already are. You’re doing it.” Anna Hogeland is an author new to me. I’ll definitely look at what else she has written.

I received a copy of this book from Bloomsbury Publishing through Edelweiss.

[Robin]

Mae was born to an unwed mother, stolen from adoptive parents by her mother, and spent her childhood on the run. Coming from nothing, with nothing, she manages to re-invent herself multiple times, becoming a woman who can, as her mother Ida urged. From New York City in the 1920s to the Depression, to World War II, and suburban motherhood, Mae's life is marked by tragedy and struggle. She never takes the easy road. A complicated marriage, complicated motherhood, complicated desires, make Mae an unusual heroine, and unforgettable.

[Stacey]

My rating is solely because I just didn’t care for the story. It is written well and neatly organized because you do feel like you just spanned 3 generations of life. If you like a story of women going through hell all their lives or just not satisfied and trying to find them selves, you will probably find this book amazing.
I did find myself wanting to see how this story was going to end, but when I got there I don’t think I really grasped the message or it just fell flat for me. There was some twists and moments that pulled at your heart strings or shocked you, but to me it felt like I just read a memoir of short stories, with interludes of maybe finding one’s self. It’s just with all that I still question what was this actually for?

[Beth]

Started off strong and then went a bit sideways, and ended as if the author’s computer died abruptly, and she chose to end the book there.

[Stephanie Webb]

Whatever words I'm able to pull together to talk about this book will be inadequate. I know I won't be able to do justice to the reading experience I just had. Wild Aster is a book about motherhood and choices, and I absolutely loved it. The story was completely captivating and I found myself enthralled from the first page. Anna Hogeland’s prose is beautiful–clear, clean, and compelling. I couldn’t put down Mae’s story. As a character, she was the perfect blend of relatable and complex–I could see myself in her, and she was so perfectly developed, it felt like spending a few days with a new and dear friend.

There was a scene in the middle of the book that was so heartwrenchingly beautiful, I was absolutely sobbing–and it’s a very rare book that can do that for me. I think it’s my favorite scene I’ve ever read and I will never forget it.

Poignant and so thoroughly human–this very well might be the best book I’ve read this year. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler, as well as anyone who has embarked on the brave and messy path of motherhood. Thanks to Anna Hogeland for the advanced reader copy, and to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the advanced digital reader copy.

[Eric Lustbader]

In "Wild Aster" Anna Hogeland has magnifcantly recreated America at the turn of the 20th century, through the following five decades. Ida and her daughter Mae, born in Ohio, dirt farmers, dirt poor, are runaways. They represent the best of American womanhood: fearless, intrepid, full of hope. They make mistakes, get up off the ground and keep going. Through their eyes we witness the dawning of a new era of industrialization, knocked about by the 1929 market crash, the ensuing depression and the terrors of WW2. But like these two remarkable women the country gets up, dusts itself off, and keeps going. The depredations that women were subjected to by men and by society in general are time and again brought home in stinging focus. No contraception, so women who slept with a man got pregnant whether or not they wanted children. Want a diaphragm? Had to have your husband sign a written consent. Wanted your husband to be faithful? Good luck with that. This is a novel I literally could not put down. Utterly enthralling. It's about life, and life only. What could be better than that? Highest recommendation.

[Donna]

It was everything I could do to finish this audiobook.

Spoiler Warning Ahead


I got invested in Ida's story at the opening of the book; she dies. We abruptly shift to Mae's life. Just as we start to get a feel for her plight, the story fast-forwards again. The bulk of the novel is about Mae's married life and subsequent feelings about motherhood. I do appreciate the author's very real and sensitive treatment of postpartum depression, and the barbarity of having to give birth during this time. I would point readers who want to know what it's like to this section. Overall, Mae was emotionally disconnected from her life as a housewife/mother -- understandably, so. It was the 1920s -1940s when women were relegated to the role of wife and mother, whether they wanted it or not. Unfortunately, her cool, distant, detached persona didn't connect with this reader. The story had as many emotional highs and lows as an Iowa highway.

[Barbara]

I loved this book my husband brought back from the Chicago 2026 ALA conference. It was easy to get into, and I enjoyed the main characters so much! The story line follows Mae through her life, after she finds herself tragically orphaned and forced to work as a nanny to survive. This is America just before the depression era and we follow Mae’s life well into the 50’s, as she goes through the pre-ordained stages of a woman’s life. A smart and independent thinker, she is constantly rubbing against the limits imposed on women of that time. The author offers well documented depictions of day to day life in early to mid century America, bringing to life strong women grappling with the roles society expects of them. The narrative flows, and I could not put it down. An author to follow…

[Lauren]

A moving generational story of a mother (Ida) and daughter (Mae). It begins with an unplanned pregnancy and Ida stealing the baby intended for her aunt. What follows is an intense, emotional journey through the rest of Ida’s life on the move, and then we move into Mae’s perspective. This book moved me to tears and made me question the pain mothers undergo, and often are forced to undergo from birth, sleep deprivation, being resigned to the home. What it means to be from anywhere and nowhere. Something wonderful happens toward the end when Mae takes agency, divorces her cheating husband and goes to work as a real estate agent, finally discovering what she really wants from life in middle age. I’ll be thinking about these characters and their losses for a while.

[Ellen Ross]

I absolutely fell in love with Mae and so thoroughly enjoyed watching her take on life over the decades. She is so relatable and admirable. There are so many things she has to deal with like coming of age, marriage, motherhood, the dissolution of a marriage, a career, and finding who she is and what she truly wants in life. I can’t get this book out of my head and will be reading again and again. This swept me off my feet. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Rebecca]

Dang I just really loved this. I was hooked from the start and stayed fully invested the whole way through. Mae is maybe an unconventional woman for the time in which she lived, though she was shaped by her circumstances as well as her own unconventional mother.
The writing in this book is fantastic. I started out listening to the audio (the narrator is terrific) but wanted to read this more quickly than audio tends to allow me, so I can recommend both audio and print formats, depending on your preference.

[Laura]

Thanks to Libro.fm for an Advanced Listener's Copy of this novel. I appreciated how well we got to know May, her challenges, her sorrows, and her desires. The author created unique characters, exploring questions of gender roles and identity in the 20th century.

[Nancy Willard]

Audio. Excellent narration. I’ve never met a Protagonist quite like May…loved the fact that it covers several generations through the decades of the twentieth century

[שיר]

Great turning points, captivating and good most of the time, though a bit too long.

[Kristalyn]

I loved listening to this book so much and look forward to reading it one day! I would be interested to read a companion book following the story of Ida's family after she left.