Wild at Heart: 7

This book is completely unbelievable, but who cares when the hero is so wonderful? For some reason, I enjoy stories about "wild" people adjusting to life back in civilization. I read Alice Hoffman's Second Nature (Gaffney's admitted inspiration for this book) many years ago, and I've also seen the great Truffaut film, The Wild Child. Gaffney's book is interesting because, being a romance novel, it has a happy ending - the wild man adapts to society and finds a home. This story takes place in 1893 in Chicago during the World's Fair. The hero's name is Michael MacNeil and as a young boy he was on a rafting expedition in Canada with his aunt and uncle in which no one survived but him. He spent the next 18 years living in the wild, alone except for animal friends. Then he is found and locked up as a human "oddity." The heroine, Sydney, meets Michael because her father is an anthropologist who wants to study him to prove whether human beings are innately good or bad. Eventually, her father abandons his study of Michael, and Sydney and her two brothers decide to help him learn to adjust to the civilized world. This book had a lot of really cute scenes, and I loved how slowly and believably Sydney and Michael fell in love. I also loved the characters of her two younger brothers. Where I think the book dropped the ball a bit was in its characterization of the time period. Gaffney points out how horrible it is that Michael is caged at first - but when Sydney and her family visit the World's Fair, there is no mention of the hundreds of people who were similarly on "display" at the Fair. The character of Michael has a HUGE problem with animals being caged at the zoo, but there are no comments about the Exposition's Midway Plaisance? I personally find the objectification of people at the 1893 Fair far more objectionable than a zoo (although a 1893 zoo was bad, too) and I wish it had been addressed. That's sort of a minor problem, though, when the overall romantic wonderfulness of the book is taken into account. Highly recommended!

Wild at Heart is the story of a wealthy Society widow, Sydney, her eccentric family, and her love for 'wild man' Michael. This story is simple and sweet, graduates to thoughtful, insightful, and ends... On an abrupt note.Michael views the world differently than others, and has the ability to open the eyes of those around him. While others take Nature for granted, Michael views the natural world and creatures within it with respect, wonder and love.This is a wonderful book. I cannot say enough good things about it... But... My only disappointment with this novel is that in the last fifty pages it disintegrates from a serious romance to romantic silliness....The author introduces a fantastic story line, and rushes through some major plot developments, to bring about a rather abrupt 'happy ending,' which hit a sour note with me.I would much preferred a slower ending, without the long drawn out last minute (silly) plot complication.Overall, still, an excellent read... AND a keeper!

A (surprisingly) believable and downright fascinating story of a man found in the wild, thought to be a sort of "missing link," forced to endure the loss of his freedom as well as his dignity. He is rapidly losing his will to live, until he meets Sydney, the woman who clearly sees what the others refuse to admit, that "Ontario Man" is an intelligent human male, like any other, with very real thoughts and feelings, made all the more real and honest by his lack of human contact. A simple, sweet gesture from Sydney's young brother can render him near tears, and his naked desire and affection for Sydney makes him touchingly vulnerable, yet somewhat dangerous, given his difficulty in grasping the social etiquette of the day (1890's). A grown-up Tarzan-and-Jane story, which is surprisingly quite touching. I read this book in a little over a day!

What a nice change for the man to be "inexperienced with women" and the woman to be the one to teach "the lost man" the fine points of love making. I also enjoyed Gaffney's writing style. She gives you lovely but unique descriptions like a "sunfall." The Chicago World's Fair was a great backdrop for a great story.

You wouldn't think that a romance novel about a woman who falls in love with a man thought to be feral would be this good. However, it works! It turns out that Michael, the "lost man" was involved in a canoe accident on a trip to Canada when he was a small child and forced to live in the wild. However, with love and patience, civilized things come back to him.What he keeps is his perspective from having lived with the animals, especially wolves. At one point he actually goes to the zoo and frees the animals. The hero is a unique character who remembers (learns) how to read through his love of plants and animals. He eventually discovers a talent and love of painting and can use his perspective of having lived in nature. This is an award winning book with good reason.