Sunday, May 15, 2022

Once There Were Wolves


Another one from my book pusher. It was on the top of the heap and I've reached for it then pushed it away for several days now. 

I blame Bambi. And Black Beauty. I really don't want to read about animals suffering--which is, admittedly, a lame position for a writer who has written about all sorts of human suffering. And a novel about an attempt to introduce wolves into the Scottish highlands--where there are many cattle and sheep-- was bound to have some unpleasant outcome for the wolves. Not to mention the cattle and sheep.

Inconsistent but there it is.

However, at last I gave it a cautious try. The wolves have a major role but the people, with their pasts and predicaments, posed so many interesting questions that I was hooked and kept reading.

Twin sisters, one traumatized and mute, one seething with rage and mistrust, fleeing an unnamed threat; a sheriff/love interest with an unhappy past; a local farmer and his abused wife; a community in opposition to the wolves; and an unplanned pregnancy are just a few of the plotlines the author sets in motion. I just had to keep reading.

A very good read with some surprising (to me, at least) twists.

 

3 comments:

Barbara Rogers said...

Yet another on my list. And most of these won't be in libraries for this year to check out! Oh well...my list goes on and on and eventually I can delete the ones I've read.

Marcia said...

Sounds like every character has a problem in that book. Not sure that I'll look for it.

Sandra Parshall said...

You don't have to look to Scottish fiction for a sad story about the fate or reintroduced wolves. The true story of what has happened to reintroduced red wolves in North Carolina is sad enough. And all the slaughter was carried out with the blessing of the state. I fear for the litter born recently in a wildlife refuge. Even the wild Yellowstone wolves aren't safe. The second one of them steps a foot outside the park boundaries, it is shot by a rancher, with the blessing of state officials.