The Wilding

by Maria McCann

1672. A generation after the Civil War, Jonathan Dymond, a cider maker, has so far enjoyed a quiet life. But when he discovers a letter from his dying uncle, hinting at an inheritance and revenge, he becomes determined to unravel the mystery in his family. Under the pretence of making her cider, Jonathan visits his newly widowed aunt and there meets her unruly servant girl, Tamar, who soon reveals that she has secrets of her own...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Novels, 21st Century, British Literature, Literary Fiction

337 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2010

About the author

Maria McCann is an English novelist. She was born in Liverpool in 1956 and worked as a lecturer in English at Strode College, Street, Somerset since 1985, until starting work with Arden.

Her first novel, As Meat Loves Salt, was released in 2001. The story focuses on the relationship of two men, Jacob Cullen and Christopher Ferris, and is set during the English Civil War. They desert their posts in Cromwell’s New Model Army to establish a farming commune in the countryside. The novel was well received by readers and critics and has recently been championed by Orange Prize winner Lionel Shriver, but failed to attract what one could call widespread attention.

McCann also contributed a short story titled Minimal to the anthology New Writing 12 published by the British Council in 2005.

Her second novel, The Wilding, was published in February 2010 . Set in England in the 1670s, it is the story of a young cider-presser, Jonathan Dymond, his dark family secrets, and the young beggar woman he tries to help.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched, neatly constructed, beautifully written book that takes potentially Catherine Cookson material and turns it into an examination of truth, social constriction and responsibility. I've given it four stars on that basis. So why, after As Meat Loves Salt, was I disappointed? Perhaps because the novel felt almost too well-made and in control of itself, whereas the previous novel seemed to be struggling to contain what it was saying, and not saying. I'm haunted by scenes in that book in a way I don't expect to be by its successor. There was a sense of strangeness in the first book - as though people really did do things differently in the past, to the point of seeming almost unrecognisable, only to suddenly, often shockingly, reveal their common humanity - that's lacking here. It might be that the central character is intrinsically less interesting because less tortured, but the grounds for his suffering are certainly more than adequate. It might be that the first book left the situation hanging whereas this one ties everything up. It might be, though I don't think so, that I wanted another gay protagonist, although one of the finest things about AMLS was that the hero's sexuality refused that kind of ahistoricising categorisation. I'm not sure. So, for me anyway, a good but not great book, thwarted, ironically, by the author's skill.

[Dolors · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wilding is one of those novels that grabs your attention while reading it but which, in my case, doesn't leave track.

England, 1672 after the Civil War. Jonathan discovers part of a letter addressed to his father from his recently deceased uncle. Secrets covered for years start coming to surface when he decides to visit her widowed aunt and learn more about his uncle and his family's past.
Attracted irrationally towards one of the maids, Tamar, Joanathan has to face some truths he might not be prepared for.

All in all, the novel was well written, it was emotionally well developed and the sense of suspense was present along the story.
But something in Jonathan didn't convince me. He was immature, girly and somehow, a bit pathetic.
The end was somehow predictable and the historical background wasn't much worked.
Good for entertainment but no masterpiece.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I purchased this because I have seen it around rather a lot lately, and one of my favourite bloggers (Jane at Beyond Eden Rock) gave it a four-star rating. For me, The Wilding was rather a slow starter. After reading many of the reviews of McCann's As Meat Like Salt, I was expecting that her prose would blow me away, but I was left a little disappointed by it. There was nothing wrong with her writing, per se, but it just didn't tick many boxes for me.

Oddly, there was no real sense of history for the most part; I felt as though the story could have easily been transplanted into almost any place or time period without many of the details having to be altered. I ultimately found the story very hard to connect with. Generally when reading historical novels I feel swept away at points, but I did not have that experience here. The relationship between Jonathan and his parents felt too close for this period too; they were forever smothering him and making loving physical contact, which is far removed from the historical realism which I've read in and around this period to date.

There is little vividness in the sparse descriptions given, and so little depth to the whole. At no point did I feel compelled to keep reading, and could happily have given up on it and moved on to another tome at any point. There was no real consistency in The Wilding, and whilst it isn't an awful novel by any means, it's not one which I would recommend. The pace was rather slow, and the plot twists predictable. I am left with rather a disappointed feeling.

[Stefan Bachmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover and description make this book look like a frothy, summery historical fiction read, but it's really quite dark and sad, and there're twists and family secrets galore, and the faintest shades of old English superstitions and witchcraft, and it all kind of felt like a Gothic novel to me, just 1672-style. So obviously I loved it.

I think if you liked The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton this book would probably be right up your alley. The writing's much less flashy, but I liked it more.

There are so many great lines. This was my favorite for some reason. It's just very atmospheric: It was a dim, north-facing apartment; creepers at the window filtered the day to a chill green, as if the light were struggling through a sheet of river ice.

Other favorite things: the characters. Even the really horrible Aunt Harriet is interesting and complex. I also liked how the book illustrates justice and law in 1600's when so much just depended on a certain group of people agreeing something was so, regardless of whether it was or not. (I mean, I guess nothing has changed, but still: interesting.)

The ending stretches on for about thirty pages after everything's been tied up, and that's where it starts feeling leisurely and summery, with lots of talk of cider-making and inheritances. But it's so good, and I didn't mind at all, and if you like historical fiction, read this.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd one this.

The setting is wonderful. Rural England in 1672.

The period, just a few decades after the Civil War, with the effects still being felt and the country still unsettled, comes wonderfully to life.

As does the real countryside. Rustic, beautiful, but also tough and grubby. You really do feel that you can see, hear, feel, touch, taste …

And the plot held great promise.

Jonathan Dymond works as a cider-maker, travelling from orchard to orchard to make a living.

A rather gauche young man. He was steady narrator and I believed in what I saw through his eyes and felt though his heart.

Jonathan is a much loved only child. His family is secure, settled and respected in their community. And they are happy.

Matthew and Barbara Dymond are good people. A little ordinary maybe, but that works to good effect as the story develops.

Their equilibrium is disturbed when Jonathan’s Uncle Robin is taken ill and dies. And then Jonathan finds the remains of a letter from Robin to his father. A letter suggesting that Robin wanted to try to put right wrongs of the past, and that he needed help to do it.

Jonathan is unsettled – and maybe just a little bit curious. And so, with the excuse of helping his widowed aunt with her apple harvest, he tries to find out more.

It does not take him long to uncover the truth that has been hidden away in the family, but as more and more secrets are uncovered, his family’s security and happiness is threatened.

The hidden truth concerns Jonathan’s Aunt Harriet and her estranged sister Joan. And maybe Joan’s daughter Tamar. All intriguing characters, and I am sorry that Jonathan’s narration didn’t allow me to see more of their hearts and minds.

But it’s all beautifully written. The dialogue works particularly well.

In many ways The Wilding has everything you could want from a historical novel. A wonderful sense of time and place. A cleverly constructed plot, with more than enough revelations and set pieces to keep the pages turning.

The novel’s themes are really interesting ones: the importance of truth of truth, and whether is it right to tell it; what happens to those who do not or cannot follow the conventions of their community; the influence wielded by the rich and powerful; the extent to which heredity, nurture and and luck make characters and influence lives.

It adds depth to what could, in the hands of a less gifted writer, have been melodrama.

But a few things just weren’t right. Just a few too many coincidences, a few too many occasions when things were said or done to help the plot along that didn’t quite ring true.

And though that plot is well built, none of the revelations come as a genuine shock. Things are sometimes a little too black and white.

But still I loved The Wilding from start to finish. I can’t say it’s a great book, but I can say that it’s terribly readable.

[Sheenagh Pugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"As Meat Loves Salt" was not only a great novel, it happened to push all my personal buttons - 17th-century setting, totally unreliable narrator, my favourite brand of eroticism - so I approached this one with some trepidation that it might disappoint what were necessarily high hopes. It didn't.

Jonathan Dymond, the narrator-protagonist, couldn't be more different from her last narrator: he is almost too honest for his own good. His parents Matthew and Barbara are even more so, an unusually successful double portrait of truly good people, which isn't easy to do and make interesting. In fact the good people in this novel are, for me, more convincing than the villainess; I can believe in her cosmic spite, but I sense that Jonathan, narrating from a pardonably biased viewpoint, is not giving enough weight to the motives behind it; she has herself been badly treated but we have to keep reminding ourselves of that, because we won't get it from him. It can be both a problem and an advantage that character-narrators do not always choose to ask all the questions that a reader might. There's one other place in the novel where a question goes unanswered - to my view, problematically. One of its central events is a minor catastrophe which can only happen because two separate people have not told their respective children enough of the truth about their past. One is Matthew, and his motive for silence is very easy to understand. In the other case, it isn't at all clear to me why the parent in question has not come clean, and while we don't always need to know motives, it rather matters here because it exposes a potential plot hole: this central event just wouldn't happen were it not for this convenient silence.

This, however, is my only cavil. The novel's themes are really interesting ones: the value of truth and how far it is right to tell it, the way a community creates and treats outsiders, the extent to which heredity, nurture and chance shape a person's character. One of its most striking moments is a brief vignette showing the huge difference that being safe, fed and decently housed can make to a person's outlook and character - anyone who still parrots the 80s slogan "you can't solve a problem by throwing money at it" should read this. As those who read her first novel would expect, the dialogue and period feel are sure-footed and give a real physical sense of the time, a tired, post-civil-war world where the ruins of conflict are still visible about the landscape in more than one sense.

Don't be misled by the cover, which is too fey and romantic; what's inside is no such thing. Don't be misled either by the ease with which you seem to perceive the truth behind something, early on, before the hero does. You are meant to, but truth has many layers and neither you nor he are anywhere near the whole truth yet....

[PrettyFlamingo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had this on my shelf for some time now and came across it recently, concluding Autumn was a good time to read it. Set in 1672, the story starts with a cider feast, preparing for harvest, the scent of applewood and rich descriptions of country life. Our narrator is Jonathan Dymond, a somewhat naive 26 year old cider maker who has up to now led a sheltered but contented life with his parents. The Civil War is but a memory and life is quiet and peaceful in their Somerset village.

Until one day, a messenger boy turns up with a note summoning Jon’s father to his brother Robin’s house as he is seriously ill. Robin has died by the time Mathew arrives and this is the catalyst for Jon’s life to change out of all recognition. Jon finds the remnants of a note from Robin in his father’s pocket that seems to imply wrongdoing. Using the excuse of pressing her apples for cider, Jon pays his aunt a visit to start to unravel the mystery.

Jon becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Robin and what he meant by the letter. Aunt Harriet is a crafty, scheming and complex individual, and Jon starts to have nightmares about Robin, convinced he is trying to tell him something. He also becomes involved with Tamar, one of Harriet’s servants and her mother Joan, a beggar and suspected witch. Although the witch hunts are 25 years in the past, Joan and Tamar are still unwelcome and viewed with mistrust, but could there be more to this? Countryside superstitions still abound about Satan, or the “Dark Gentleman” that drive people’s actions. After Jon begins helping Joan and Tamar. Joan writes him letters explaining the secrets in her background. The back story is slowly revealed with a few surprises still in store which keeps us turning the pages. As Jon seeks to make progress he is constantly thwarted by Aunt Harriet and other characters. The story became a curious mix of character development, amusing foolishness and Jon’s arrival at realisations the hard way. Although he grows up to some extent through the course of the story, he still doesn’t always seem to understand his own feelings and emotions.

At one of their early meetings Tamar had pointed out a wilding, a ”bastard tree, sprung up without planting” which becomes one of the central tenets of the story and gathers momentum as we read on and skeletons fall out of closets.

The style of writing is rather in line with 19th century classics; chapter titles such as Of Mrs Harriet and Her Household, How I Lost Part Of My Hair, On The Disagreement of Home Truths, could have come from the pen of Dickens. Similarly characters named Beast, Dymond and so on give us a clue as to their characters. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable tale and is immensely readable.

[Andrea Zuvich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Dymond, the twenty-six-year-old protagonist of the novel, is a cider maker who makes his living by travelling from place to place turning people's apple harvests into cider (the alcoholic kind). His uncle Robin has recently died and Jon soon finds himself visiting his proud and stern Aunt Harriet, who lives in the large house she shared with her husband. She presides over a house in which she employs more servants than is truly necessary. One of these is an enigmatic young woman named Tamar, to whom Jon finds himself strangely gravitating towards despite the fact that she has a bad reputation and is quite wild. Uncle Robin died with a very heavy conscience and what follows is a mystery that has significant consequences for Jon and those he loves.
This was the first novel by Maria McCann that I have read, and this book has been on my "To Be Read" list for some years (I distinctly remember a very large poster for it at Victoria Station in London when I did my regular commute from Balham to Kensington Palace), and it has been on my shelf for at least three years. I hope to read McCann's debut novel, As Meat Loves Salt, about which I have heard very good things. Several reviews of The Wilding state that the beginning is "slow", but I disagree - McCann set the scene very well and that takes time. I found the prose simple but powerful, and the plot itself grew progressively darker until it went into full-on taboo territory. Some bits were disturbing, but that I believe was the point, which culminated in a bittersweet ending. Jon is a very likeable character, and the secondary characters were all well-drawn and convincing.
Also, I came away with a new word added to my vocabulary - "virago" - a perfect word for Aunt Harriet.
I didn't want to put this book down. Excellent. 4.5/5

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't really have very much to say about this book. It was... alright. Certainly not the worst thing I've read this year, but I can't think of anything particularly positive to say about it either. Perhaps I've read too much historical fiction in which terrible torments are visited upon the characters, but nothing Jonathan went through seemed particularly dramatic or exciting, at least not until the final quarter of the book. His fretting about the possibility of Tamar being his cousin was particularly puzzling - the story is set in 1672, surely relationships between cousins in small country villages wouldn't have been all that unusual...? There are some interesting revelations in the last few chapters, but there are way too many pages of Jonathan's dull introspection to get through before anything really happens. The tagline on the cover promises dark secrets, but I was left disappointed and feeling the whole story was kind of redundant. Good writing, though.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book set in 1672, about Jon Dymond who at first glance lives in an idyllic pastoral community. He is passionate about cider making and one day visits his recently widowed rich aunt in a neighbouring village, in order to press her apples for free with his portable cider press. There he meets mysterious Tamar and soon learns a terrible secret that crushes his worldview.

I particularly loved Jon’s perspective, and far from finding all the rich historical detail of everyday life boring, I found it endlessly fascinating. I loved learning all about Tamar and her drama, it was a really good story... however, the ending fell a little flat and I didn’t really like how everything was wrapped up.

I think this is a great book for historical fiction lovers who love secrets, drama and scandal. The ending was not to my personal taste but that is not unusual for me, but I do think this was worth the read.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. One of my biggest beefs with "historical fiction" is that it often reads like modern fiction dressed up in the clothes of the time. This one had the stamp of authenticity on it - the language was right (but a nice easy read) and the detail rang true. Jonathan was fascinating as a narrator - wonderful naivety frequently coming through while he blunders his way through to the truth - and I loved his relationship with his parents. Harriet was superbly drawn as the boo hiss villain. I liked the letters as a means of revealing the back story - made you wonder at first if this version of events was true or not. A really lovely read for anyone who likes the genre, but an equally rewarding experience for people who might need a bit more convincing.

[Melanie O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a long time since I have read a historical book. I did enjoy this and the storyline was very interesting. However , I felt it ran out of legs at the end and was a bit long and drawn out but apart from that a good read overall.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jonathan - gah - what a sad, pathetic man you are!
He really needed to grow a backbone and he annoyed me with his ‘love’ based on nothing. The story was interesting enough but I didn’t like the characters that much. There was a twist towards the end that caught me by surprise so extra cred for that.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wilding isn't available in the U.S., so after loving Maria McCann's As Meat Loves Salt, I ordered The Wilding and Ace, King, Knave from Waterstones. And I'm so glad I did! This book was well worth the price of international shipping. It's a good old-fashioned story which in some ways reminded me of a novel by Hardy. McCann writes unique historical fiction. The Wilding runs the gamut of life in the English countryside in the 17th century. She paints a vivid picture of people from different walks of life and weaves a fantastic story for these characters to inhabit.

It's 1672, a generation after the English Civil War. Jonathan Dymond is a young man who lives with his parents at their inherited home and small farm. He has a profession he loves as a traveling cider maker. But when his uncle dies, Jonathan finds a scrap of his deathbed letter which was sent to Jonathan's father. It's an ambiguous section of the letter about guilt and making reparations. Under the guise of going to make cider for his uncle's widow, Jonathan goes to uncover the meaning of the letter so he can carry out his uncle's dying wish. As Jonathan begins digging up family secrets, he meets his aunt's mysterious servant girl, Tamar. Learning of Tamar's struggles, Jonathan is awakened to the ugliness and hypocrisy of society. He becomes determined to help Tamar, even if in doing so he upsets his way of life.

Maria McCann is a great writer and The Wilding is an example of great storytelling. It's very compelling and hard to put down. I love books set in the English countryside and I found this novel to be totally transporting. I enjoyed hearing about the cider making, farming, and the foods of the time. There are many lovely descriptions. The Wilding is narrated by Jonathan in an old-fashioned voice that's very period appropriate. The use of letters throughout and the inclusion of an old folktale make it feel authentic. I loved all the letters and how there's a story within the story told to us through letters. In this way, we hear more than one perspective.

McCann peels back the idyllic facade of village life to reveal the horrors of war, the cruelty of neighbors, and the betrayal of family. The Wilding is really about the class system and the horrible classism of the 1600s. We see the differences in quality of life for Jonathan's family who own their own land, Jonathan's wealthier aunt, servants, vagrants, villagers, witches, and the poor. The range of experience presented is fascinating. Reading a novel by McCann feels like stepping into a time machine and seeing the reality of the past, not a glossed over, sanitized version. The olden days were pretty horrible. The Wilding explores the misogyny of the time and the hypocritical practices of the Church. It really shows how hard it was to be a woman back then, how you could be "ruined" and lose everything just like that. And then the same women who were forced into victimhood and had to beg and become prostitutes to survive were looked down upon and deemed undeserving of charity. It will make your blood boil but it's important that these injustices are explored.

Jonathan undergoes a wonderful character arc. At first he helps Tamar even as he looks down on her and women like her due to his prejudices and society's brainwashing. There's a great contrast between his original viewpoints and how his beliefs change as he grows as a person. His awakening, loss of innocence, and disillusionment are really well done. Jonathan thinks, "Here was I, performing an act of Christian charity while everything conspired to present me as an unchristian, even devilish, man." He also says, "I felt I could live without their good opinion; I had begun to discount the judgement of ordinary honest folk."

The revelation of a certain twist in the story made my jaw drop. And yet it makes perfect sense, causing all the pieces of the story to fall into place. The story boasts a formidable villain. There are atmospheric, recurring dreams. The novel is humorous at times; parts of it made me laugh aloud.

The Wilding is a wholly satisfying story. Read it to be whisked away to a different time and place. McCann deftly handles issues and themes that are still relevant today. With so much historical fiction about the rich and privileged, it's a good change to have a historical novel featuring marginalized people and the awful mistreatment they've suffered. McCann is definitely my new favorite author of historical fiction. I highly recommend The Wilding. And if you're an American fan of As Meat Loves Salt, I suggest ordering this one from Britain.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction is not my first choice of genre and at first I admit that it took me while to adapt to the language style in The Wilding, but once into the story, the style became easier and more flowing and overall, just added to the sense of time and place in what is a very cleverly written novel.

Jonathan Dymond is the only child of fairly well-off parents, living quite comfortably and earning extra money as a cider presser - he is known locally as Cider Rat and is very proud to be the owner of a mobile cider press. Jonathan is not the most rounded of characters and appears quite naive and innocent, somewhat spoilt by his doting Father and Mother.

Jonathan finds the remains of a letter in his Father's pocket - the letter has been written by his Uncle Robin and hints of inheritances and family secrets. Uncle Robin and his wife Harriet are far wealthier than Jonathan's family - and childless. Eager Jonathan decides to unravel the mystery and takes it upon himself to find out more, without telling his parents.

It does not take him long to uncover the truth that has been hidden away in the family, he also uncovers secrets about lies, lust, treachery and madness, these secrets soon threaten his entire family and their happiness.

Maria McCann has very cleverly included the imaginary of apples and the cider making process throughout the story, and, as the apples break down and rot, so does Jonathan's beliefs about his family.

Jonathan and his parents are depicted as quite ordinary people, whose characters have no padding and come across as quite flat at times. It is when we meet Aunt Harriet and the two other major female characters; Joan and Tamar that McCanns writing really comes alive. Harriet is one of the most hateful women ever written, although the more we learn about her, the more it is apparent just why she is so vile. Joan and Tamar - the two beggars that inhabit a cave near to Aunt Harriet's house are fascinating, especially Tamar who develops throughout the story.

Jonathan receives a letter from Joan which tells the history of his family - once the secrets within the letter are revealed, the story really takes a turn for the better and kept me turning the pages quickly to discover just how many skeletons one family can have in their cupboard.

The Wilding is compelling, quite passionate and evocative, I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this.

[Fey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Dymond is a young gentleman with no cares, who makes a living by taking his unique portable cider-press round the countryside, and pressing cider apples. When a note comes to his father from his dying uncle, things change. His father arrives to late to hear his Uncle's last wishes, and is willing to let it be forgotten. But Jonathan finds a scrap of the note that hints of dark secrets, and is plagued by nightmares of his Uncle. So our protagonist finds himself driven to investigate the mystery. Taking the cider press to help his Aunt Harriet with her apples is a convenient way to get into the household for a while, and there he meets Tamar, an unusual beggar-girl who has been hired as a maid by her aunt, and seems to know somewhat about the mystery of Uncle Robin's dying wishes.

The novel is set in 16th centry england shortly after cromwell's civil war (a period which McCann has obviously well researched for her first novel 'As Meat Loves Salt'). The setting works really well for the novel, with hints of the recent violent past still resting below the surface. And the practice of cider making seems to tinge the story with the scents of sweetness and underlying rot.

It has to be said that I did not rate this novel quite as highly as McCann's first novel, but then again I gave 'As Meat Loves Salt' a 5 star rating and cried continuously over it. It has to be hard first novel to live up to. Nevertheless McCann's writing is still brilliant, and the mystery was completely riveting. Highly recommended.


See my review of Maria McCann's first novel:
← As Meat Loves Salt

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wilding is set in England in 1672, just after the end of the Civil War. Our narrator is Jonathan Dymond, a young man who works as a cider-maker. Jonathan lives with his loving parents and leads a quiet, happy life, travelling around the neighbouring villages with his mobile cider-press. But when Jonathan's father receives a mysterious letter from his dying brother, Jonathan grows suspicious and decides to visit his uncle's widow to investigate. At his Aunt Harriet's house he meets Tamar, one of his aunt's servants, and begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding his uncle's death.

This story was entertaining, very compelling and kept me turning the pages. McCann evokes the period very well. I liked the way she portrayed a small rural community in 17th century England. I also learned more than I could ever wish to know about cider-making and apples!

But to me, the difference between a good book and a great book is having strong characters that I can connect with - and unfortunately I felt that most of the characters in The Wilding had very little depth. As the narrator, Jonathan was boring and not very engaging. Tamar and her mother were both interesting, well-drawn characters, but as we only saw them through Jonathan's eyes, I didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked to. It would have been nice to have had part of the story told from Tamar's perspective.

So, I thought The Wilding was a good book but not a 5-star one. I would recommend it to people who like well-written, fast moving historical fiction with plenty of twists and revelations.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely easy read and very well written.

The Wilding is written in the first person by a young man called Johnathan who resides in 17th century England and earns his living as a cider presser, travelling around hiring his services with his unique portable cider press lovingly made and given to him by his father.

When his fathers brother Robin dies Johnathan senses there is a mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death which is father is unwilling to discuss, so decides to visit his widowed Aunt the wealthy and nasty Harriet to try and unravel what has been going on.

This is where he meets the enigmatic Tamar, working as a servant for his aunt and abruptly dismissed, he is starngely drawn to her and she evoked sympathy in him when he finds her living with her infirm mother in a hovel of cave behind his Aunts house.

Circumstances carry Johnathan into events outside his normal sheltered existence and a story of betrayal, revenge and hatred is revealed.

Its a story of fairly ordinary folk with a family secret which swept me along and I found it a very satisfying read.

[Martine Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully and tautly written novel with fine imagery of apples, cider, rot, sin and growth. The wilding itself is a wonderfully chosen symbol of illegitimacy - in fact rarely have I read a book with such carefully chosen motifs and images.
The narrative surprised me with its smallness of scale - two small families in rural Somerset and a few walk on characters. There were a couple of longeurs in the middle section but throughout the strong, humorous character of Jonathan kept me rooting for him. A slight issue was Aunt Harriet, the villainess, who seemed to be too unremittingly wicked for my naturalistic tastes. But overall this is triumph and as so many other readers say Maria McCann's prequel is even better, I can't wait to read it.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book started a little slow, though maybe I only felt that way because my life was very busy and it was hard to find the time to really get into a new book. After the first 50 pages or so though I was completely hooked! Interesting characters and an intriguing plot that left me guessing to the bitter end. Wonderfully crafted and some beautiful expressions this really is a masterpiece of literature.

[Marleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although beautifully written, this was, in my opinion, a slow-moving, depressing story. The characters were very well depicted and interesting but I thought Jonathan fretted too much and too often about his possible wrong-doings. I liked the ending very much though.

[Pallavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book which one cant stop reading till the end... awesome
No words to praise.
Suspense, Drama, Family ties, Infidelity....a great soup to drink :)

[christopher nicholson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the lowest rated book in my TBR. Why it was on my TBR I can’t remember.

This is such a poor book. It’s just boring, badly written, repetitive, stupid and has utterly forgettable and dislikable characters.

The book follows this pattern. Main character is at home, he goes to his aunts house, he goes to see love interest and goes home where he whist-fully longs to see the love interest again which means he goes back to his aunts house and the cycle repeats, and repeats and repeats...

The sub plot is even more boring. Ever been interested in how cider and cheese is made in post civil war England? No? Me neither, but that’s what our intrepid main character is all about.

Then there’s the awe inspiring chapter titles, that get you all excited and eager to continue reading. There’s ‘On the desirability of Marrying Off Young Persons’, ‘of Home, and Dreams I Had There’ and my favourite, ‘How I Lost Part Of My Hair’.

The main character always does what people tell him not to do. Time after time. To the point that when he again goes against people advice, and acts like a jerk, you end up despising him.

And he gets beat up by an old woman. What a hero.

Then there’s the ‘romance’. Personally, I’ve never found these qualities particularly attractive in a woman; Prostitute, lives in a cave with her half dead mum, smells of piss and sweat, malnourished, vulnerable and has feet that are black and blue due to the cold.
However, the main character sees this and thinks ‘I’ll have a bit of that” and so starts the ‘romance’.

In my opinion the lead character has preyed on a vulnerable woman and has taken advantage of her.

There’s a ‘twist’ which I won’t reveal, just in case your unfortunate enough to read the book. But be warned, the ‘twist’ will just leave an awful taste in your mouth and wish you could reach into the book and punch the main character in face.

I would have given this book 1 out of 5 except that I have read a book worse than this (hard to believe but true) which I did only rate as 1 star.

[Ruth Estevez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had a turbulant relationship with Maria McCann's'The Wilding.' Yet another prize-winning or listed novel that hasn't lived up to the hype and praise. You may all remember I gave up on the highly praised The Miniaturist after asking advice whether to do so, here on Instagram. Thank you for the advice! Yes, life's too short and there are so many books to be read! So, The Wilding. I'm writing Jiddy Vardy 2, so thought I'd read more Historical Fiction at the moment to see how others slip in details and history. The narrator, Jonathon Dymond, is a cider maker and I loved all the detail about the business, though the use of the word 'cheese' confused me a tad. Mists and frosts and early mornings were described beautifully. The first problem was, I guessed one of the secrets in the book. Should I give up? I was glad I carried on because later, I didn't guess a massive one. However, there were certain key elements I didn't believe and a major, horrific occurrence that I didn't feel was adequately dealt with. And as for our main character, the voice that carried us through, well, at times he was a petulant brat and I really didn't like him. I think McCann gave us a very honest depiction of an innocent, a spoiled young man (though it was repeatedly stressed he should be married by now) The depiction of the two beggar women was brave and honest. Their behaviour rang true for people who have been living on the very edge of society for a long time. McCann's choices were uncomfortable & fresh. It was a great case of paradise lost, innocence lost and pride coming before a fall. But I just didn't care or believe everything in this tale of inheritance and family secrets. Think I'll be wary of Orange prize or any prize books from now on.

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-4 1/2 star read. This book was on my radar as it was a Richard and Judy (UK) Book Club selection some years ago and I put it on my reading list. I can see why they selected this read. Back in 1672, in the small village of Spadboro, Jonathan Dymond is a cider maker, going from place to place with a cider press designed by his father. But when his dying uncle in a nearby town sends for his father on a mysterious errand, Jon is intrigued. After his uncle's death, against his parents' wishes, Jon goes to the home of his widow, the formidable Aunt Harriet and offers to press her apples for cider for her for free. While he is there, his aunt is hateful to him. Jon discovers two women living in a cave in the woods who have a connection to his family. He becomes entangled in their lives and falls in love with the younger woman, Tamar, with dire consequences. Family secrets are revealed and there are many surprises. This is a superbly written novel and kept my interest from start to finish. I plan to read the rest of her novels. I really liked this read.

[Ape · Rating 3 out of 5]

A common enough tale, of a very naive young man getting himself entangled with a young woman and... oh, whoops a daisy, now there's s bun in the oven. Also of families and inheritance and wills and all the nastiness that can come with them.

This is set in the 1600s, post the civil war but not so far than people don't remember. Jonathan Dymond comes from a comfortable home and travels with his cider press making cider at local villages. His uncle suddenly dies, there's a scrap of a letter in his father's coat and he has vivid dreams that his uncles wishes are not done. He takes to going to his uncles house, where the insipid and manipulative Aunt Harriet, the widow resides. There's a bolshy servant girl, Tamara, and suggestions of witchery in the Woods (not very much at all though). And a family drama is slowly unveiled. This is a slow burner, which makes it feel the more realistic but you get to the end, shrug your shoulders and think. Meh. So what?

A Wilding is a self seeded tree. Rather than one grown and planted on purpose. Rather like extra marital children.

[tinalouisereadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

1672. Jonathan Dymond, a 26-year old cider-maker, has enjoyed a quiet, harmonious existence. A letter arrives from his uncle with a request to speak with his father. When his father returns from the visit the next day, all he can say is that Jonathan's uncle has died. Then Jonathan finds a fragment of the letter, with talk of inheritance and vengeance.

My Thoughts:

I really liked this book. It had lots of lovely descriptions of the countryside and the cider making process of the time. The story was a classic tale of family secrets, revenge and inheritance.

While reading the book I couldn’t make up my mind if Jon was really that dim and couldn’t see what Tamar and her mother where doing, or whether they really were telling the truth. Nobody wanted Jon to know the secrets but it all comes together with the final reveal and twist towards the end. I never saw this coming !

A very pleasing read and perfect for summer afternoons doing nothing at all.

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Historical fiction that is easy to be read, felt as if the author understood the era without being too 21stC or too bogged down in detail.
It was an interesting story that moved along at a good pace. Themes of a young man maturing, desire and shame, navigating the pressures of society without this theme being too heavy.
It was a little simplistic, the evil aunt and the good people rescuing the beggars. But the aunt had a pretty difficult life but she was clearly the villain.
I would have liked a sense of Jon having a more fulfilling future. But all in all it was an enjoyable read and I want to read more by this author.

[Agresio · Rating 3 out of 5]

It came to me, after I finished reading it, that this is Maria McCann's attempt at writing a Brönte-esque story. The melodrama is there; sadly, it falls flat.

Maria McCann wrote my favorite book of all time "As Meat Loves Salt," therefore, I had big expectations for "The Wilding," which had been on my TBR from the second I finished reading "As Meat Loves Salt." The author's writing is flawless here just as it was in her first novel, but the story itself is not particularly clever. The amount of research and meticulousness that characterized McCann's previous work is absent in this novel. I strongly missed the historic richness that I know the author is capable of giving to a story.

[Rabaab · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to read.


As the novel opens, a letter arrives from his uncle with a desperate request to speak with his father. When his father returns from the visit the next day, all he can say is that Jonathan's uncle has died. Then Jonathan finds a fragment of the letter in the family orchard, with talk of inheritance and vengeance. He resolves to unravel the mystery at the heart of his family - a mystery which will eventually threaten the lives and happiness of Jonathan and all those he holds dear.