Dortchen Wild, one of six sisters, lives in the small German kingdom of Hesse-Cassel in the early nineteenth century. She finds herself irresistibly drawn to the boy next door, the handsome but very poor fairy-tale scholar Wilhelm Grimm. As Dortchen tells Wilhelm some of the most powerful and compelling stories in what will one day become his and Jacob's famous fairy-tale collection, their love blossoms. But Dortchen's father will not give his consent for them to marry, and war, death, and poverty also conspire to keep the lovers apart. Yet Dortchen is determined to find a way. Kate Forsyth's The Wild Girl masterfully captures one young woman's enduring faith in love and the power of storytelling.