Wild - by Amy Jeffs (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Sheer cliffs, salt spray, explosive sea spume, thunderous clouds, icy waves, whales with mountains on their backs, sleet, bitter winds, bleak, impenetrable marshes, howling wolves, forests, the unceasing cries of birds and the death grip of subterranean vaults that have never seen the sun: these are wild landscapes of a world almost familiar. In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys - on foot and through medieval texts - from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the reader an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world. From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world - stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval literature: women, outcasts, animals"--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

An evocative journey into early medieval Britain, where myth and wilderness intertwine - brought to life by Amy Jeffs' original linocut art.

Step into the wilderness of early medieval Britain with Wild, a captivating collection of myths, legends, and reimagined tales from the sixth to tenth centuries. From storm-lashed coasts and haunted fens to enchanted forests and ancient barrows, these stories and poems illuminate a world both beautiful and brutal, filled with monsters, miracles, and moments of hope.

Written and illustrated by Amy Jeffs, bestselling author, medievalist, and art historian, Wild brings a fresh voice to Old English, Welsh, Irish, and Latin sources. Each tale is paired with Jeffs' striking original linocut engravings, whose bold, timeless forms echo the drama of the landscapes and characters they depict.

Accessible, atmospheric, and beautifully illustrated, Wild is a celebration of the natural world through the lens of Britain's oldest stories. For readers drawn to folklore, history, or the restorative power of myth, it offers an unforgettable journey into the roots of our relationship with wilderness.

About the Author

Amy Jeffs is a Somerset-based art historian and printmaker with expertise in medieval art and literature. In 2020, she gained a PhD in Art History from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having worked at the British Library, and studied for earlier degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art and Cambridge. She published her first book, Storyland, in the fall of 2023.