Beautiful Wild
The diaphanous cover undermines the depth and complexity of this Gilded Age Romance. The title refers not only to our heroine, but also to the tropical island where she is shipwrecked and where survival trumps social convention.
In 1905, socialite Vida sails on the maiden voyage of Farrar’s Princess of the Pacific, rival of the White Star Line, to ensnare adventurer Fitz Farrar, heir to shipping fortunes. In dense fog, a steamer dashes the port side, and Vida and Fitz are among those stranded on a tropical island where pretense and social conventions slip away. As she bathes in the waterfalls and sheds layers of finery, Vida feels free. The games stop. Her romance with Fitz deepens with honest communication. When Fitz and two of the crew sail off to secure their rescue, a typhoon engulfs the island. He is presumed lost at sea. Vida emerges as the natural leader, reassuring the remaining survivors, calling upon hidden strength. The quiet, dark Sal, Fitz’s traveling companion/servant whom she had deemed “a nobody,” makes her see the beauty in the natural world and question what she wants from life. When she is at last rescued, back in high society, and engaged to Fitz—the marriage she has been trained to want—she is torn. What does she need to be happy?
Godbersen set out to create an escapist fantasy and at the same time meditate on life after a disaster. What happens when you get what you think you want? She makes us aware of the interplay between the glittering life on the surface and interior truths—all with a delicious love story.
