Tuesday 3 February 2009

The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney



I have just finished the Tenderness of Wolves, which is the February book for the reading group. I enjoyed the book tremendously. Set in and around Georgian Bay in Canada in 1867 the book gives a wonderful feeling for the wildness and wilderness of Canada. A multi-layered story which features Scottish immigrants and native Indians as the main protagonists it is part thriller, part adventure and part love story or love stories. However it is mainly about enduring and somehow surviving, whatever the difficulties. Though the book is 450 pages long, it is well written, with no longueurs to speak of. It certainly gripped me all the way through. My one quibble with the book is its structure. It begins and ends with the story as seen by Mrs Ross. And throughout her account is always told in the first person. The rest of the story is narrated in the third person. Not sure why and not totally convinced it works. Still it doesn't detract from a very good read. Recommended.

No comments:

Post a Comment