The Vaster Wilds is set between 1609 and 1610 in Jamestown, Virginia, at the site of the pioneering second English settlement in North America. The start of the novel follows two ships carrying vital supplies to the colony. Life on the ships is less than ideal; however, they take a turn for the worse when they encounter a storm. That storm resulted in dramatic damage to their ships and loss of life.
The initial settlers in those colonies faced dire consequences. They had hoped to grow much of their own food at their new colony, relying on supplies from England to supplement their stocks. However, the colonists quickly discovered that large-scale agriculture wasn't possible because of contaminated water. Because of the ships getting damaged and delayed, 80% of the colonists died of disease or starvation. Future colonists fared slightly better. However, they still suffered from diseases, hunger, and the neighboring Powhatan tribes that constantly threatened them.
Amidst this chaos, a young girl named Lamentations Callat, who is somewhere between 16 and 18 years old, flees the fort containing the settlement during a cold winter night. As the story unfolds, it's hinted that she might have killed someone. Eventually, it becomes clear that she did, in fact, kill someone so that she could escape with her life.
After leaving the camp, Lamentations considers which route she will take: either south towards Spanish-controlled Florida or north to French Canada. She weighs both options heavily but ultimately decides to go north towards Canada. After all, she knows how to speak a little French and feels that she would be more likely to succeed there.
Hunger begins to gnaw at her soul; after all, she hasn't had anything to eat in four days. When she arrived in the New World, Lamentations came with a diverse family (including a child with Downs Syndrome) who she decided to help. However, they all perished because of disease or starvation. She reflects on her decision to leave her home with those people and laments their deaths. But she continues on, and is able to find food and persevere.
Lamentations were able to collect essential supplies before leaving the settlement, including flint, a knife, a hatchet, and two coverlets. Those tools allow her to survive the harsh, dangerous wilderness, which presents her with many challenges, including wild animals and other people. Dressed in a cape with pilfered boots, she depends on the land, fishing, hunting, and gathering berries and nuts to survive. She navigates numerous perils, including confrontations with a bear, a wolf, and a bison herd. And she comes out of each confrontation scraped and bruised but still alive and strong. However, after two weeks on the run, she develops a dangerous fever that threatens to overpower her. It doesn't, and she finally makes it to French Canada.
