The Last Wild Horses: A Novel

by Maja Lunde, Rob Shapiro (Read by), Sarah Mollo-Christensen (Read by), B. J. Harrison (Read by), Christa Lewis (Read by)

Overview

Translated into 36 languages, winner of the Norwegian Bookseller’s Prize, and the most successful Norwegian author of her generation, Maja Lunde returns with a heart-wrenching tale, set in the distant past and the dystopian future, about extinction and survival, family and hope.

Mikhail lives in Russia in 1881. When a skeleton of a rare wild horse is brought to him, the zoologist plans an expedition to Mongolia to find the fabled Przewalski horse, a journey that tests not only his physicality, but his heart.In 1992, Karin, alongside her troubled son Mathias and several Przewalski horses, travels to Mongolia to re-introduce the magnificent horses to their native land. The veterinarian has dedicated her life to saving the breed from extinction, prioritizing the wild horses, even over her own son. 

Europe’s future is uncertain in 2064, but Eva is willing to sacrifice nearly everything to hold onto her family’s farm. Her teenage daughter implores Eva to leave the farm and Norway, but a pregnant wild mare Eva is tending is about to foal. Then, a young woman named Louise unexpectedly arrives on the farm, with mysterious intentions that will either bring them all together, or devastate them one by one.

Spanning continents and centuries, The Last Wild Horses is a powerful tale of survival and connection—of humans, animals, and the indestructible bonds that unite us all. 

Translated from the Norwegian by Diane Oatley

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798200853175
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Maja Lunde is a Norwegian author and screenwriter. Lunde has written ten books for children and young adults. She has also written scripts for Norwegian television, including for the children’s series Barnas supershow (“The Children’s Super Show”), the drama series Hjem (“Home”) and the comedy series Side om Side (“Side by Side”). The History of Bees is her first novel for adults. She lives with her husband and three children in Oslo.

Since iTunes named his as one of the top podcasts of 2007, BJ Harrison has continued to wow audiences with his voicing skills. Now, over 475 audiobooks later, he still impresses critics and listeners alike. From eldritch witches to young ingenues, from marble mouthed gangsters to Shakespearean Danes, BJ has an astounding array of character voices, dialects, and accents at his fingertips, coupled with an impressive depth of interpretation.

Sarah Mollo-Christensen is a voice talent and an audiobook narrator. A stage and voice actor, she received her BA from Dartmouth College and graduated from the Atlantic Theater Company’s Acting Conservatory in New York City. As an actress, she has appeared on prestigious regional stages, including the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.

Christa Lewis has narrated over two hundred audiobooks. She is a classically trained actress with a four-year conservatory training in voice and acting. She has a smart and funny vibe, but can also meet the moment in straightforward or somber works of nonfiction thanks to a seventeen-year stint as a newsreader. Christa speaks accent-free German fluently and offers a variety of believable accents and dialects. Her narrations are well received—there have been seven Earphones awards across a variety of genres—YA, literary fiction, biography and memoir—a 2019 SOVAS Voice Arts Award in Biography and two Audie nominations. Pippa Jayne was the Sultry Listeners’ Award Winner 2019 in the Erotica category.

Rob Shapiro is a musician, writer, voice actor, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He performed several seasons of radio comedy on Minneapolis Public Radio and voiced the titular lion in Leo the Lion. He is a musician and composer with his critically acclaimed band Populuxe. He is also a business consultant and software system designer.

Coming soon...

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/20/2021

Like Lunde’s The History of Bees, her stellar latest hinges on a threatened species, this time the takhi, a rare ancient breed of horses. In 1880 St. Petersburg, a colleague brings zoologist Mikhail Kovrov the skull and hide of what looks like a takhi, which is believed to be extinct. Kovrov leaves his comfortable urban life to travel with animal-capture expert Wilhelm Wolff to Mongolia, where the remains were found, with a plan to bring living takhis to Europe to preserve their bloodline. Though they succeed in capturing the horses, Kovrov’s time with the passionate, fearless Wolff throws his beliefs about his identity and future into crisis. A century later, German veterinarian Karin realizes her longtime dream of flying a group of European-born takhis back to Mongolia to reestablish them in the wild. Joining her on the expedition is her son, Mathias, a heroin addict in unsteady recovery who hopes to win the love his mother has never seemed able to express. In 2064 Norway, Eve and her teenage daughter, Isa, inhabit the dystopia caused by climate change. Isa wants to join migrants seeking a more sustainable habitat, while Eve is determined to stay at the family’s defunct wild animal park to take care of its takhi, one of the world’s last, and her foal. Each of the segments are brilliantly complex, and they conclude with satisfying revelations. Throughout, Lunde delivers a perfect blend of gripping human stories, historical and scientific fact, and speculative elements. This standout should win her wider attention in the U.S. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"[B]rilliantly complex....Lunde delivers a perfect blend of gripping human stories, historical and scientific fact, and speculative elements. This standout should win her wider attention in the U.S.." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Lunde captures the depth and range of human love in all forms—our capacity to care for species other than our own, our desire to connect with others, and how both these are so often thwarted by the external circumstances of trauma and war. Filled with haunting notions of interspecies kinship, the reverberations of kindness and care, and the innate drive to love and survive despite the odds, this book is one to savor.” — Scientific American

“Each narrative suggests the unintended and often disastrous consequences of human interventions in nature. Seamlessly flowing between historical, travel, and dystopian fiction, this is another riveting, thrilling, and powerful installment from internationally renowned Lunde.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

Lunde captures the depth and range of human love in all forms—our capacity to care for species other than our own, our desire to connect with others, and how both these are so often thwarted by the external circumstances of trauma and war. Filled with haunting notions of interspecies kinship, the reverberations of kindness and care, and the innate drive to love and survive despite the odds, this book is one to savor.

Scientific American

Each narrative suggests the unintended and often disastrous consequences of human interventions in nature. Seamlessly flowing between historical, travel, and dystopian fiction, this is another riveting, thrilling, and powerful installment from internationally renowned Lunde.

Booklist

Each narrative suggests the unintended and often disastrous consequences of human interventions in nature. Seamlessly flowing between historical, travel, and dystopian fiction, this is another riveting, thrilling, and powerful installment from internationally renowned Lunde.

Booklist

02/01/2022

Przewalski's horses, the last wild horses on Earth, are stocky in appearance, have 66 chromosomes instead of the 64 that domestic horses have, and are almost extinct. In her new novel, best-selling Norwegian author Lunde (The History of Bees) uses these rare horses to link three narratives. The book begins in 2064. Eva and her daughter live on the family farm near an abandoned town in Norway, and environmental disasters have forced most of the world's population to migrate north. However, to ensure the survival of the Przewalski's horses that live on her farm, Eva refuses to leave. The second narrative takes place in St. Petersburg in 1884 and focuses on a zoo's assistant director, Mikhail Alexandrovich Kovrov. After learning about the existence of the wild horses in Mongolia, Kovrov puts together an expedition and captures 16 horses for zoos in Europe. The last narrative describes the efforts of Karin, a German veterinarian who in 1992 brings several wild horses to Mongolia for the purpose of reintroducing them into the wild. VERDICT While Lunde's descriptions of a dystopian landscape destroyed by climate change are especially effective, the novel wraps up a little too neatly given the trauma suffered in trying to save the horses.—Jacqueline Snider

Library Journal

Karen Gundersen, Christa Lewis, B.J. Harrison, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, and Rob Shapiro narrate this audiobook composed of one connected story set in varying timelines. Harrison narrates as Mikhail, a zoologist in the 1800s who discovers an extinct breed of Mongolian horse. Harrison handles the era’s dialogue deftly. Lewis portrays Karin, a vet who, in 1992, brings the now thriving horses back to Mongolia. Her accent work is immersive. Gundersen portrays Eva, a climate survivor in the 2060s who is responsible for the last in the line of these majestic creatures. Listeners will weep as she grapples with the meaning of survival. Shapiro narrates the final chapter as Karin's son, tying up the audiobook with heart and gravitas. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2022 - AudioFile

Karen Gundersen, Christa Lewis, B.J. Harrison, Sarah Mollo-Christensen, and Rob Shapiro narrate this audiobook composed of one connected story set in varying timelines. Harrison narrates as Mikhail, a zoologist in the 1800s who discovers an extinct breed of Mongolian horse. Harrison handles the era’s dialogue deftly. Lewis portrays Karin, a vet who, in 1992, brings the now thriving horses back to Mongolia. Her accent work is immersive. Gundersen portrays Eva, a climate survivor in the 2060s who is responsible for the last in the line of these majestic creatures. Listeners will weep as she grapples with the meaning of survival. Shapiro narrates the final chapter as Karin's son, tying up the audiobook with heart and gravitas. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2022 - AudioFile