From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Yellow Birds comes a gorgeous, haunting love story set in the Virginia mountains and on the battlefields of World War I France.

'A novel of extraordinary beauty and power' Ben Fountain

Ewer's Rock, Virginia, 1917. Roy Young is restless, determined to leave this rural valley and make his mark on the twentieth century. Samantha Hatton, the minister's daughter, knows the town expects her and Roy to marry, but she hungers for more. The arrival of Ennis Duke - a mysterious wild boy tending to a lost herd of cattle up the mountain - will change everything.

Within a year, the lives of these three young people will be dramatically transformed. In the crucible of conflict, Roy and Ennis forge a fierce bond. Meanwhile, back in Virginia, Samantha's love and courage endure unthinkable sacrifice in a corner of the world fractured by violence.

With the spare, exquisite prose and the profound insight that made The Yellow Birds a landmark work of American fiction, Kevin Powers illuminates the savage, complex, and timeless bonds of loyalty, honour, and heroism. Children of the Wild captures what it means to be human in times of loss - and how, even in darkness, the light of friendship and love endures.


I was captivated by The Yellow Birds, but with his latest, Children of the Wild, he has raised the bar and shows the maturity of a seasoned writer ever more confident of his skills and subjects. It is a wonderful, poignant novel that deserves to be on as many shelves and reside in as many hearts as possible. - David Baldacci