Kate Forsyth presents a well-informed perspective on the Grimms’ fairy tales as well as a window into the corresponding period, without visible anachronisms. The dialogue also achieves the right tone, yet I hesitate to call this a historical novel. Forsyth has employed the historical fiction genre more as a vehicle by which to shape a dark fairy tale of her own. In this she succeeds admirably. The romance of Dortchen and Wilhelm is played out against a backdrop of gloomy forests, magnificent palaces, and lakes ‘slurred with ice’. In Dortchen’s relationship with her father, Forsyth deals unflinchingly with the subject of domestic abuse, and is to be commended for this, though the novel is altogether too long and slow-paced to sustain such a dark litany of woe. However, the power of The Wild Girl  ’s fairy tale imagery helps to transcend the episodes of horror, and the symbols of blood in the snow, ravensong, and linden fragrance will remain with the reader long after other impressions have faded.