Thieves, Beasts & Men

** AMERICAN FICTION AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NEW FICTION 2021 ** ** FINALIST FOR THE 2021 SHELF UNBOUND AWARD FOR BEST FICTION ** ** LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 SOMERSET PRIZE/CHANTICLEER INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FOR BEST LITERARY AND CONTEMPORARY FICTION ** For Fans of Emily Fridlund's History of Wolves and Fiona Mozley's Elmet. This stunning debut uses the irresistible scenario of a hermit living in near-complete self-sufficiency in the wilderness, and asks the universally relevant question: what is the value of existing within a civilization when it is fraught with evil? Adelaide has lived a long, solitary existence in the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the verge of ending it all, she discovers two feral children raiding her garden and rescues them in a misguided attempt at a new life. Now she must find a way to care for children who are more beast than human. They only communicate with chirps and grunts, and they pine for their feral mother. When dangerous men and a wild woman emerge from the darkness in pursuit, Adelaide faces a grueling choice. She can release the children back to the wild, saving her own life but losing everything she has grown to love, or fight to defend her new family, risking the death she no longer seeks. Thieves, Beasts & Men asks who are the thieves in this story? Who are the beasts? And what, ultimately, defines humanity?