Synopses & Reviews
Diane Les Becquets tells the story of one woman missing in the Colorado wilderness, and another bent on discovering her whereabouts, in an unforgettably moving and thrilling, bestselling literary debut — now in trade paperback.
Driven to spend days alone in the wilderness, Amy Raye Latour, mother of two, is compelled by the quiet and the rush of nature. But this time, her venture into a remote area leaves her on the verge of the precarious edge that she’s flirted with her entire life.
When Amy Raye doesn’t return to camp, ranger Pru Hathaway and her dog respond to the missing person call. After an unexpected snowfall and few leads, the operation turns into a search and recovery.
As the novel follows Amy Raye and Pru in alternating threads, Breaking Wild assumes the white-knuckled pace of a thriller, laying bare Amy Raye’s ultimate reckoning with the secrets of her life and Pru’s dogged pursuit of the woman who, against all odds, she believes she can find.
Review
"Les Becquets’ prose is as spare, haunting, and nuanced as the wild landscape she brings to life…A transcendent, breathless exploration of the darkest depths of loneliness and the unbreakable human spirit." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"A taut and thrilling narrative…Skillfully blending the emotional terrain of women’s fiction with a briskly paced adventure story." Booklist (Starred Review)
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"A visceral book building suspense from sensory details. As a page turning, two-pronged wildlife adventure, Breaking Wild is great fun. It may improve your survival skills, too." The Wall Street Journal
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"Quite literally mesmerizing…Prose that is lean, spare, and frequently poetic…What sets this novel apart is how deeply its author dares to venture into the psyches of her two unforgettable protagonists." Andre Dubus III, bestselling author of Dirty Love and House of Sand and Fog
Review
"A powerful, visceral book about our own pasts and our own fears." Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Place
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"A thrilling, gorgeous debut, a novel that explores the human capacity to persevere despite the wounds of the past and the perils of the present." Bret Anthony Johnston, national bestselling author of Remember Me Like This
About the Author
Diane Les Becquets is a faculty member and former director of the MFA Program in Fiction and Non-Fiction at Southern New Hampshire University. In addition to teaching creative writing, she has worked as a medical journalist; an archaeology assistant; a marketing consultant; a sand and gravel dispatcher; a copywriter; and a lifeguard, and is also an avid outdoorswoman. A native of Nashville, she spent almost fourteen years living in a small Colorado ranching town before moving to New Hampshire.