What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wild
'This book ranks alongside PADDY CLARKE HA HA HA as one of the very few great contemporary novels about childhood' William Sutcliffe, Independent on Sunday 'Everything was going to be different this year' - Tess is nine years old and wants her new family to work out, even though her brother Jake is not so sure. THE WILD is a brilliant, clear-eyed evocation of the collision of families and step families, adult and childhood worlds.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
6 people are currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Esther Freud
34 books276 followersEsther Freud was born in London in 1963. As a young child she travelled through Morocco with her mother and sister, returning to England aged six where she attended a Rudolf Steiner school in Sussex.
In 1979 she moved to London to study Drama, going on to work as an actress, both in theatre and television, and forming her own company with fellow actress/writer Kitty Aldridge - The Norfolk Broads.
Her first novel Hideous Kinky, was published in 1992 and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. In 1993, after the publication of her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was named by Granta as one of the Best of Young Novelists under 40.
She has since written seven novels, including The Sea House, Love Falls and Lucky Break. She also writes stories, articles and travel pieces for newspapers and magazines, and teaches creative writing, in her own local group and at the Faber Academy.
Her most recent book, Mr Mac and Me, was published in September 2014. She lives in London with her husband, the actor David Morrissey, and their three children.
In 1979 she moved to London to study Drama, going on to work as an actress, both in theatre and television, and forming her own company with fellow actress/writer Kitty Aldridge - The Norfolk Broads.
Her first novel Hideous Kinky, was published in 1992 and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. In 1993, after the publication of her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was named by Granta as one of the Best of Young Novelists under 40.
She has since written seven novels, including The Sea House, Love Falls and Lucky Break. She also writes stories, articles and travel pieces for newspapers and magazines, and teaches creative writing, in her own local group and at the Faber Academy.
Her most recent book, Mr Mac and Me, was published in September 2014. She lives in London with her husband, the actor David Morrissey, and their three children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 27, 2016
Having just spent a week slogging up to page 50 before abandoning a book I was increasingly coming to dislike, it was such a joy to find myself immediately hooked by this book, and I gobbled it up in 3 days. Told mainly from the point of view of 9 year old Tess, it's a wonderful portrait of two families trying to live together in changing circumstances, and is also about all the stuff the children aren't told but work out, learn or are just baffled by. The setting, both in terms of time and place, is beautifully evoked. We see less of William's children, but Francine, Tess and Jake, and William are all brilliantly realised, and some of William's actions towards Tess made me wince in heartfelt sympathy for her.
I suspect that this is one of those books whose very readability belies the skill and craft it took to make it so. Fabulous.
I suspect that this is one of those books whose very readability belies the skill and craft it took to make it so. Fabulous.
January 30, 2016
This was a really great read. Esther Freud has a brilliant writing style and she particularly excels when writing about children.
This one is set in the south of England in the 70s and is about hippies and their children. It particuarly focuses on Tess, who has moved to new rented rooms with her older brother, Jake, and her mother. They have moved in with a single father, William, and his three daughters. Tess idolises William and is desperate for him to like her - and the story is in part her growing up and learning that even adults are not perfect and make mistakes, and that you shouldn't have to be so desperate for someone's approval. But I think it's also William that has to lear that no one is perfect. Can't say I liked him. He's a perfectionist and a bit of a control freak, self-righteous and certain his way is the only way. It is never made clear why it ended with his wife, but over the story you get the impression he was being unreasonable, which makes it all the more surprising that he got custody of the three girls.
Unsurprisingly, the mother and William have an affair and have a baby, but this relationship is doomed not to last. The announcement of her pregnancy comes hot on the heels of the birth of William's ex-wife's new son and once the baby is born he is soon lusting after their young lodger.
Jake, Tess' older brother, sees through William, quite unforgivingly of course (again unable to accept adults aren't perfect and don't always get it right, although in a different way to Tess) and this confrontation between the two men reaches a climax at the end of the story.
These are my bookcrossing thoughts, as written in 2007.
This one is set in the south of England in the 70s and is about hippies and their children. It particuarly focuses on Tess, who has moved to new rented rooms with her older brother, Jake, and her mother. They have moved in with a single father, William, and his three daughters. Tess idolises William and is desperate for him to like her - and the story is in part her growing up and learning that even adults are not perfect and make mistakes, and that you shouldn't have to be so desperate for someone's approval. But I think it's also William that has to lear that no one is perfect. Can't say I liked him. He's a perfectionist and a bit of a control freak, self-righteous and certain his way is the only way. It is never made clear why it ended with his wife, but over the story you get the impression he was being unreasonable, which makes it all the more surprising that he got custody of the three girls.
Unsurprisingly, the mother and William have an affair and have a baby, but this relationship is doomed not to last. The announcement of her pregnancy comes hot on the heels of the birth of William's ex-wife's new son and once the baby is born he is soon lusting after their young lodger.
Jake, Tess' older brother, sees through William, quite unforgivingly of course (again unable to accept adults aren't perfect and don't always get it right, although in a different way to Tess) and this confrontation between the two men reaches a climax at the end of the story.
These are my bookcrossing thoughts, as written in 2007.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2012
I started reading this a few years ago but it didn’t really grab me. This time around I slipped into it a bit easier, & I did end up enjoying it. Yes, it’s very middle-class & comes with the usual eccentricities of that class, but that actually helps the story.
I found some of the characters difficult to relate to or to sympathise with, but that actually made the ending feel more satisfying so I suspect that was the emotion that the author wanted to provoke. I liked the use of foreshadowing which kept me wondering throughout the rest of the story until the conclusion answered all the questions. It made the book that more interesting but at the same time didn’t spoil the ending for me, which can sometimes be the case.
I thought this book was ok, but I can’t say I was engrossed in it. An easy read for entertainment really.
I found some of the characters difficult to relate to or to sympathise with, but that actually made the ending feel more satisfying so I suspect that was the emotion that the author wanted to provoke. I liked the use of foreshadowing which kept me wondering throughout the rest of the story until the conclusion answered all the questions. It made the book that more interesting but at the same time didn’t spoil the ending for me, which can sometimes be the case.
I thought this book was ok, but I can’t say I was engrossed in it. An easy read for entertainment really.
October 11, 2014
I picked up this book because I liked Hideous Kinky and Peerless Flats. I think it's my favourite one now. It has a deep sadness that only a step child can feel when you feel you don't fit, or when a step parent doesn't like you. Tess is a lonely, anxious child and I really felt for her and her brother. All the adults in the book are a bit rubbish, and William is dreadful. Freud portrays the disjointedness of a blended family well from a child's point of view. It is a melancholy book with only the pathetic, ridiculous behaviour of William providing the lighter moments.
March 19, 2025
DNF. I have no clue what’s going on
May 11, 2024
Enjoyed this, but from the first page there was a sense of looking dread. What a vile passive-aggressive tyrant Freud created in William. Absolutely the nastiest kind of selfish controlling man anybody could imagine.
June 25, 2025
Got less and less interested about halfway into the book :/
February 20, 2019
Couldn't relate well to any of the characters. Who was this book written for? Too old for the young and not for me.
March 9, 2007
I read this because Hideous Kinky is a favourite of mine, and I was expecting it to be better as Hideous Kinky was Esther Freud's first novel. It was sorely disappointing. I couldn't sympathise with the main character (Tess) at all. It's all in third person, but sometimes it's told from her point of view, sometimes from William's (her stepfather) point of view. Tess looks up to William in a sickening way, whereas William dislikes her "awkward, grubby body pressing in too close" - the whole tone made me feel uncomfortable. The plot didn't go anywhere, and I put this down feeling like I'd wasted my time.
April 16, 2016
Subtle and destructive, this book is mostly from the innocent perspective of young Tess. So infatuated with her landlord and her need for someone to care for her mother, herself and her brother that she is blinded to what is really going on.
This book is a really intelligent perspective of how a child sees life - not dumbing down, complex with it's layers of understanding, but with utter naivety, and lack of life experience to recognise the signs of when it really would be wise to get out of a situation! As a reader you are taken on Tess's journey, things are hinted at, but you're almost as shocked as she is when you pick up on upsetting twists in the plot! I shall say no more...
This book is a really intelligent perspective of how a child sees life - not dumbing down, complex with it's layers of understanding, but with utter naivety, and lack of life experience to recognise the signs of when it really would be wise to get out of a situation! As a reader you are taken on Tess's journey, things are hinted at, but you're almost as shocked as she is when you pick up on upsetting twists in the plot! I shall say no more...
April 20, 2011
I am not sure what the purpose of telling this story was or what the reader was supposed to take away from it. While Tess is the main character and the reader is supposed to see the male characters she so looks up to (William, Victor) through her eyes they just come across as incredibly unlikeable and improbable choices for her adoration. Furthermore the story is told in short chapters and paragraphs that are all very disjointed making it an uncomfortable and unnecessarily disorganised read. In short: I did not see the point to this book at all.
May 4, 2009
Eh... I rated this 3 stars at first... because I wanted to like it. Unfortunately, the plot lines were disjointed, the perspective changed back and forth during the second half of the book and made things confusing and perhaps worst of all, none of the characters were likable. The girl narrator, Tess, was pathetic, the main guy character, William, was a total jerk and none of the other characters adult or child had any backbone or interest either. So overall, no.
August 1, 2015
This was an okay saga about families, step-families and the tensions produced when ex-partners disturb proceedings. When Francine and her two children Tess and Jake move in to share a house with single dad William and his three daughters, Tess tries to 'match-make'. As her plans bear fruit, Tess finds that her brother Jake bears increasing animosity towards William, culminating in a near tragedy. 7/10.
November 21, 2011
I really did want to like this book, and while I did feel really sorry for Tess, the central character, I just hated William, the guy who's trying to be with her mother, so much it made the rest of the book nearly impossible to enjoy. Yes I read the book fast, but mainly just because I wanted to get it over with. Disappointing, as i've loved all her other books.
December 25, 2022
Gorgeous book about childhood in a wild bohemian setting -this is something Freud does so well starting with Hideous Kinky one of my favorite ever. The confusion of the wandering family the attachment to pets and things that might be gone soon. The beauty of their free lives with all the bumps that come with that-
April 1, 2014
A very disjointed story of a blended family told from the point of view of a young girl, Tess. The adults are all unattractive and I felt sorry for the children trapped in the care of these aging hippies, but found little to amuse or entertain.
April 4, 2016
I found this to be beautifully written and painfully accurate. I loved it and spent the whole book trying to work out which child it was in scene 1. I loved the slow revelation of what type of man William is and the subtle way Tess's neediness is portrayed. Impressive.
March 3, 2013
This books has led me to suffer and rejoice with its characters as no other book ever has, perhaps with the exception of Vasconzuelos' "Mi Planta de Naranja-Lima"
July 20, 2014
A very nice debut. But damnit that William is irritating!
May 7, 2016
I enjoyed this, though at times it is deeply sad. Well written and often moving, my only real criticism is the adults in the story. They appear so helpless and flawed - but maybe that's the point.
September 16, 2018
Was an OK book, I just didn't get where it was going, not much of a storyline to it and not a great ending. This is just my opinion and we are all different, you may love it.
November 30, 2018
A really lovely, atmospheric book mainly told from the point of view of the children. Thanks to my step gran for the loan :) xx
June 17, 2022
I didn't like the writing style. I am all for reading in between the lines but some things were left in the air that shouldn't have been. Also, there wasn't much to like about the characters. The only ones that seemed to have some characteristics that endeared them to you were Tess and Jake but they all should have been fleshed out more.
August 3, 2022
It is, as the blurb says, a startlingly candid and evocative description of childhood. But I’m giving it 3 stars because: a) I could feel the author being clever, b) the book somehow left me dissatisfied.
January 24, 2023
Very good on family relationships and sibling rivalry.
September 17, 2023
Thought I was gonna love this as a rarer blended family story, but it became quite tedious and in the end the father sadly predictable
June 6, 2019
Looking at the book's title one might think that it talks about some sort of wild creatures 🐆🐅or about tribes living in wilderness⛺... Well, if you did think so like i did 😅 think again because this book is a simple one, it talks about a little girl 👧 seeking for acceptance.
At first when i read this book i was confused because there were too many characters and too many names and little or too little description for them so it was hard to tell who is with who and how they all were related and how they came to know one another. I honestly thought about tossing this book aside but i am glad that i didn't for as i kept going things became clear and the book turned to be a really good one.
Tess is a little girl of ten who moved with her mother and brother to live with a man and his daughters in rooms they rented in his house. Tess longs for affection from this man so she tries to please him in doing whatever tasks he presented and she would even be the first to volunteer in doing them hoping that he might spare her an approving look or even embrace her affectionately like his daughters. After series of events Tess finally gets that look she longed for but only when it is too late.
Like i said before this book is really simple and really good especially if your looking for a quick thing to read in one of your busy days.
At first when i read this book i was confused because there were too many characters and too many names and little or too little description for them so it was hard to tell who is with who and how they all were related and how they came to know one another. I honestly thought about tossing this book aside but i am glad that i didn't for as i kept going things became clear and the book turned to be a really good one.
Tess is a little girl of ten who moved with her mother and brother to live with a man and his daughters in rooms they rented in his house. Tess longs for affection from this man so she tries to please him in doing whatever tasks he presented and she would even be the first to volunteer in doing them hoping that he might spare her an approving look or even embrace her affectionately like his daughters. After series of events Tess finally gets that look she longed for but only when it is too late.
Like i said before this book is really simple and really good especially if your looking for a quick thing to read in one of your busy days.
December 13, 2024
This is kind of the only sort of novella a member of the Freud family could produce, one in which a nine-year-old girl is so desperate for a father and a family, she is triangulated into a toxic blended family, tolerating tiny humiliations in hope of being accepted and loved by her step-father and step-sisters.
Much of the narrative makes sense only if you're aware of the half-hearted hippie communes common to the bored middle-class of Britain in the 1970s, and have a decent instinct for feminist theory.
(Crossposted to tumblr)
Much of the narrative makes sense only if you're aware of the half-hearted hippie communes common to the bored middle-class of Britain in the 1970s, and have a decent instinct for feminist theory.
(Crossposted to tumblr)
October 25, 2016
Really enjoyed the quiet and contained nature of this story. Characters came off the page and the child's eye view was well realised.
December 23, 2007
Liked this. Atmospheric and well written.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews