This adventure novel centers on a mysterious figure known as the "Wild Man," living deep in the forest, and the efforts of a group of characters to unravel his identity and past. Set in the French countryside, the story combines elements of intrigue, nature, and human drama, highlighting themes of isolation, redemption, and the conflict between civilization and the wilderness.
Elie Berthet (1818-1891) was a 19th century French novelist. His works include L’enfant des bois (1865) (as The Wild Man of the Woods, 1868), and The Pre-Historic World (1876; translated into English by Mary J. Safford in 1879) and La Bete du Gevaudan (1858), a novel about a famous feral child. He is viewed as an influence on the development of the genre of "ape-man" fiction that ultimately led to the creation of Tarzan.