Wild Aster
A Novel
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Wild Aster
Narrated by:
Marley Otto
Pre-order Now for £15.43
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Narrated by:
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Marley Otto
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By:
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Anna Hogeland
Mae Smith starts her life as a stolen good: her biological mother, Ida, kidnaps her from her adoptive parents, and Mae grows up on the run, constantly changing towns and names, never able to find a home. After her mother’s death, Mae is determined to live a different kind of life. But over the next half century, as she reinvents herself against the backdrop of the Depression and Second World War and pursues stability amid the personal upheavals of marriage and motherhood, she must reckon with the choices she’s made and life’s inexorable turns.
For readers of Alice McDermott, Anita Diamant, and Maggie Shipstead, Wild Aster explores the price of security, the drive to be a different mother than your own, and the daily gains and losses that define who we become. Ultimately, Mae’s story challenges us to confront the choices we make for personal fulfillment and family obligation and the perseverance that even a seemingly ordinary life demands.©2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (P)2026 Anna Hogeland
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Critic reviews
Exquisitely written, Wild Aster charts the legacy of motherhood and the echoes of our choices. A shining novel that captures the beauty and bravery of ordinary life.
Wild Aster spans decades of quiet tragedy, but delivers one of the most satisfying endings I have read in a long time. Hogeland’s prose feels like a character in its own right, stoic and resolute, leaving space for readers to consider their own longing, loss, and repair.
Wild Aster is that rare thing: a novel that marries the feel of a timeless classic with a sharp, contemporary sensibility . . . Mae herself is a singular protagonist, filled with strength, curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to herself that I found completely mesmerizing. I fell in love with her and with this beautiful, insightful book.
Breathtaking.
A brilliant debut . . . Anna Hogeland writes beautifully, with unwavering passion and insight.
I’ve never read a book that speaks so bravely, and eloquently, about the burdens that women carry . . . A masterpiece.
An introspective, psychologically astute, and engaging debut . . . A startling meditation on grief and family and betrayal and the stories we tell about ourselves.
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