When I read this new young adult novel by Francesc, I thought about his journey as an author within this genre and, as always, it feels consistent with who he is. At first, I didn’t know what Bosquimano meant. It seemed like a difficult title to remember, but it makes complete sense once you read this very special novel.
It represents an ideal of a wild and self-sufficient life. The protagonist uses the word bushman to imagine himself as someone capable of living off the forest, without depending on the outside world, guided only by his hands and his ingenuity. It is a metaphor for freedom.
It is part of a teenage adventure, but also of a desire many adults have felt at some point: the desire to discover who we are, to satisfy our need for identity and self-discovery, and to reconnect with nature. A young adult novel I recommend for readers of all ages.
The world closes in again. Rules return. Fear seeps into everyday conversations. And right at that moment, two teenagers decide to do the opposite of what logic dictates: run toward the forest.
That’s how The Bushman begins, a novel that doesn’t settle for telling an adventure story, but instead presents a physical escape as the prelude to an inner one. Because this isn’t just about surviving among trees and silences—it’s about discovering who you are when everything familiar disappears.
Toni lives in a small town in the Montseny mountains and has always felt an almost magnetic pull toward the nearby forest. When the threat of a new lockdown looms over their lives, he drags Miguel, his best friend, into a decision that is as impulsive as it is revealing: to escape and live like true men of the woods.
No technology. No adults. No safety net. Just sleeping bags, pocket knives, young hands, and a romantic idea of freedom.
Very soon, the forest stops being an idealized refuge and becomes a territory that tests their bodies, their friendship, and their certainties. Hunger, fear, and mistakes begin to surface. And then comes the twist: Toni discovers they are not alone. That someone else is hiding among the trees. And that encounter will force him to face something far more uncomfortable than external danger: his own essence.
The Bushman blends pace, tension, and emotion with a deep reflection on identity, friendship, and the passage into adulthood. It is a story of survival, but also of revelation—of the kind that arrives when you can no longer keep running and are forced to look at yourself head-on.
Francesc Miralles, with a long career as a specialist in psychology and spirituality and an author translated into more than sixty languages, once again demonstrates his ability to connect with major inner conflicts through stories that seem simple on the surface. His experience popularizing concepts such as ikigai subtly permeates the novel, without explicit lectures, allowing the narrative itself to pose the important questions.
This book does not speak only to young readers. It speaks to anyone who has ever felt the urge to disappear from the map, to start over, to find out who they would be if everything familiar suddenly went dark.
The Bushman is an invitation to venture into the forest, yes—but above all, to enter that uncomfortable and necessary territory where who we truly are is defined. A journey that grips you, shakes you, and lingers long after.
