The Simple Wild: A Novel

The Simple Wild, the first book in K.A. Tucker’s The Simple Wild Series, follows Calla Fletcher, a city girl at a crossroads when she learns that her estranged father, Wren Fletcher, is ill. Calla leaves her bustling life in Toronto and journeys into the distant wilderness of Alaska, a place very different from hers. In the gorgeous but unforgiving country, she reconnects with her father and meets Jonah, a tough and stoic pilot with a gruff exterior concealing a gentle heart. As Calla navigates the difficulties of her new environment and rebuilds her relationship with Wren, she discovers love, resilience, and the beauty of life's basic joys. Author of over 30 books, Tucker calls her brand of writing “captivating stories with an edge” (Tucker, K.A. “About K.A. Tucker.” K.A. Tucker Books). Tucker’s books have been recognized by USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Oprah, and First for Women. The Simple Wild was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee.

This study guide refers to the 2018 Simon & Shuster e-book edition.

Plot Summary

When Calla Fletcher was a toddler, her mother, Susan, and father, Wren, separated when Susan wanted to leave Alaska, but Wren refused to give up his passion for being an Alaskan bush pilot. Over the years, Wren and Calla maintained their relationship over the phone, but when Wren promised to visit for Calla’s graduation and never showed up, she ceased communication with him. After 12 years of not speaking, Calla still thinks of him often and wonders if he still cares for her. Now 27, Calla enjoys living comfortably with her mother and stepfather, Simon, in Toronto. Calla faces unexpected life changes when she gets downsized from her job and breaks up with her boyfriend, Corey. She is considering going full-time with the lifestyle blog she and her best friend, Diana, maintain, but a chance phone call from Bangor, Alaska, changes everything. Wren has lung cancer, and his friend Agnes asks Calla to consider visiting her father.

Calla reluctantly packs two suitcases full of nice clothes and flies to Anchorage, where she meets Jonah, a bush pilot who works for her father’s airline, Alaska Wild. Jonah is rude to her and brings the smallest plane in the fleet to take her into Bangor. The plane is too small to fit Calla’s luggage, and the flight is miserable. Calla arrives in her hometown with only a duffle bag full of essentials and the clothes on her back. Agnes meets her on the tarmac. Calla is hurt that her father didn’t meet her at the airport. She learns Jonah is their neighbor and has several more confrontations with him in her first few days. Wren behaves like he didn’t even know Calla was coming. Their first meeting is awkward, and Calla wonders how long she can last in this physical and emotional discomfort. Calla meets Mabel, Agnes’s daughter, and she becomes jealous and assumes Mabel is his child. From Jonah, Calla learns that Agnes’s husband was a pilot for Wild, but when his plane crashed, Wren blamed himself and became a caretaker for Agnes and infant Mabel.

Calla visits Alaska Wild and learns that their outdated business practices keep them from competing with other airlines. She offers to create a website to increase their visibility in the tourism industry. She and her father share an honest conversation about the past, and she shares how much he hurt her. She also learns that Wren never stopped loving her mother. Jonah flies Calla to a remote village and seeing firsthand the work Wild does to help Indigenous Alaskans gives her a newfound respect for Wren and begins to shift her view of Jonah. Though she’d only planned to stay a week and still doesn’t have her luggage, Calla cancels her return flight and settles into the rhythm of Alaskan life.

Jonah must crash-land a plane, and Calla’s fearful reaction signals that her feelings toward him are shifting. She goes to his house to work on the website, and they share their deepest conversation yet, where Jonah shares about his fraught relationship with his father, who died from cancer. Jonah takes a muscle relaxer for his injuries, and Calla goes outside to feed his pet raccoon, Bandit, and notices her luggage stashed under a tarp. Though he’d reported her luggage as missing, Calla realizes he’d had it all along. While he’s still sleeping, she cuts his beard and hair and leaves him a note explaining her retaliation. Jonah isn’t angry about his new look, but in response, he steals all her cosmetics and hides them at his house. When she confronts him, he kisses her, and she realizes the hints of attraction she’s felt are real.

Calla joins Jonah on a rescue mission to retrieve two hikers stranded in a remote area. Due to bad weather, they must ground the plane, and when they hike to the pick-up point at a cabin, the hikers aren’t there. Forced to wait for the weather, Jonah and Calla must spend the night together in the cabin, where they act on their mutual sexual attraction. After a steamy, passionate night tangled together in front of the fire, they set out to rescue the hikers the next day.

Upon their return, they learn Wren is in the hospital with fluid in his lungs. Wren has been hiding the severity of his cancer from her and he's chosen not to pursue treatment. Wren comes home on hospice, and the family spends as much time together as possible. Wren invites Calla on his last flight and apologizes for how he fell short as a father. He plans to sell the airline to a larger company and give her the profits. He leaves three planes to Jonah. Calla calls Susan and asks her to come to Alaska to say goodbye to Wren. He dies surrounded by his family, including Susan.

Though Jonah implores her to stay, Calla can’t see a reason to remain after her father’s death, and she knows Jonah will never leave Alaska. She returns to Toronto but finds readjusting to city life difficult after falling in love with a simpler life in Alaska. She and Jonah stay in touch via text, but she can sense their emotional distance growing. After one miserable month, Jonah surprises Calla and shows up in Toronto. He plans to start his own airline with the planes and move closer to Anchorage. He invites Calla to join him and start their life together.