'Storyland' is one of my favourite books of this last year and 'Wild' was a strong follow up. If anything, I wish simply that 'Wild' could have been longer. Mythology and folklore retellings are some of my favourite things to read, while I have a background in studying art history, mythology and history at university - in short, I am fond of both fictional and academic explorations of ancient myths and legends. As a consequence, Amy Jeffs' blending of the two - offering a fictionalised retelling of the original source material and then delving into a more scholarly breakdown of the historical events and sources that inspired the stories - is the perfect combination. The beautiful wood engravings that mark the start of each chapter are yet another reason to love the book! If this is your first Amy Jeffs book, please check out the wonderful 'Storyland' also!

This is a book which combines history, mysticism and geography in a rather beguiling mix. Each chapter starts with a piece of fiction based on Anglo-Saxon poetry then moves into reflection. It's hard to categorise or even describe in a way that does it justice, just accept that it's a rather wonderful and relaxing read!

I read this while stuck on a train just outside of Edinburgh in the vast flooded fields, it felt like a very fitting environment for it. Amy Jeffs follows up her incredible Storyland with a brilliant collection of stories all based around different environments of the British Wilderness. Jeffs uses ancient Medieval texts (mostly from the Exeter Book) to create some really imaginative and creative tales, and follows each up with her own accounts of how she came up with each, I also really enjoyed the Beowulf references! A great read if you enjoyed her previous book Storyland!

This came into the shop early and didn’t even have time to hit the floor before I had bought it I was looking forward to it so much. I had really loved the storytelling and art work in Storyland and when I found out that there was a sequel coming out covering the early medieval period in a similar fashion I was excited. Once more I consumed this whole book in a couple of sittings (I’m on holiday so have the spare time) and loved the way that the author takes old stories, this time mainly from the Exeter Book, and reinvigorates them with a modern sensibility. For me this gives the poems and tales far more immediacy and a way to relate to them more than reading a translation, no matter how good. There is a genuine attempt at real storytelling which seems to be lacking in straight translations, making them a living and breathing thing once more as they would have been when originally written. Once more Amy Jeffs supports these tales with beautiful ink prints at the start of each story, this time wood engravings, which tease the tale in graphic form. My only real disappointment is that there weren’t more tales to read, another beautifully researched and produced book. Looking forward to the next (fingers-crossed).