The Beautiful and the Wild

By: Peggy Townsend

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

The dangers of Alaska aren't limited to storms, starvation, and grizzly bears. Sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person you love.

It’s summer in Alaska and the light surrounding the shipping-container-turned-storage shed where Liv Russo is being held prisoner is fuzzy and gray. Around her is thick forest and jagged mountains. In front of her, across a clearing, is a low-slung cabin with a single window that spills a wash of yellow light onto bare ground. Illuminated in that light is the father of her child, a man she once loved. A man who is now her jailor. Liv vows to do anything to escape.

Carrying her own secrets and a fierce need to protect her young son, Liv must navigate a new world where extreme weather, starvation, and dangerous wildlife are not the only threats she faces. With winter's arrival imminent, she knows she must reckon with her past and the choices that brought her to the unforgiving Alaskan landscape if she is ever going to make it out alive.

A story of survival in the wilds of Alaska, The Beautiful and the Wild explores the question of whether we can ever truly know the person we love—or ourselves.

©2023 Peggy Townsend (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Page-turning. Exhilarating. Unforgettable. I read The Beautiful and the Wild in one riveting gulp. It's both compelling psychological suspense and a wise contemplation of the destructive power of secrets—not just those kept from us by others, but also secrets we keep from ourselves."—Meg Waite Clayton, internationally bestselling author of The Postmistress of Paris

"The Beautiful and the Wild probes the darkest corners of human heart; in the context of a marriage gone wrong, it's hard to imagine anything more terrifying. Townsend's masterfully written novel takes us to a harrowing past informing an even more treacherous present, chilling and unforgettable."—Elizabeth McKenzie, award-winning author of The Dog of the North

"The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend is a gripping, edge-of-your-seat Alaskan wilderness survival story and so much more; a brilliantly insightful and compelling dysfunctional family drama that kept me turning the pages at warp speed. I loved this book!”—Karen Dionne, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Marsh King's Daughter and The Wicked Sister

Suspense

Interesting story, did not see the end result coming so that’s always good. Enjoyed listening to this book.

Unbearable

Karissa Vacker made this book more tolerable. Otherwise. I just couldn’t take the naivety of the main character.