The Tenderness of Wolves by Step Penny - A review

In my opinion, the novel was not meant to be about wolves, but that humans are more the savage beasts in dealing with their own kind, than wolves. ( )

Fairly melodramatic. There's too much here, too many not-quite-resolved and seemingly irrelevant characters and arcs, and the ending doesn't provide a real conclusion except in a shallow epic-movie sort of way. I also felt the section breaks were unnecessary on top of the shifting 1st/3rd person POVs. Still there were some moments of good writing, and the fear of wide and empty spaces read true. ( )

Antes de que los rigores del invierno se ciernan sobre Dove River, un poblado fundado por pioneros escoceses en el noreste de Canadá, una mujer halla el cadáver de un trampero local al mismo tiempo que su hijo, de diecisiete años, desaparece en una excursión de pesca. Los hechos atraen hasta aquel remoto lugar a un variado grupo de personas dispuestas a esclarecer el crimen, o a beneficiarse de él, desde un joven delegado de la poderosa Hudson Bay Company —que ejerce el monopolio del lucrativo comercio de pieles—, hasta un curtido y arruinado periodista. Cuando la señora Ross decide emprender ella misma la búsqueda de su hijo, adentrándose en el bosque acompañada de un taciturno pero experto rastreador, se ponen en marcha también una serie de personajes cuyas insólitas historias confluyen hacia un destino común en el majestuoso e imponente marco de la tundra nevada. Inmersos en un paisaje inhóspito de una belleza áspera e impenetrable y conscientes de su vulnerabilidad, los hombres y mujeres que conforman esta hermosa e inquietante novela deberán saldar cuentas con el pasado antes de afrontar los desafíos del presente.

In this historical fiction set in the Canadian wilderness in the mid-19th century, a French-Canadian trapper living near an isolated village is found murdered in his bed. Our protagonist, Mrs. Ross, discovers the body and alerts the authorities. Upon returning home she finds that her seventeen-year-old son, Francis, a friend of the murdered man, has disappeared. Suspicion falls upon her son and a mixed-race tracker. After her husband searches, but fails to find Francis, she and the tracker set off to locate him and determine what happened. This book contains an intricately woven mystery, with several subordinate mysteries embedded into the main storyline. The Canadian legacy of fur-trapping and the Hudson Bay Company play an important role in the narrative.

This book is filled with striking characters, such as the ambitious and ruthless company-man in charge of the investigation, his inexperienced assistant whose heart is in the right place but makes questionable decisions, two daughters of the town magistrate that engender romantic feelings in the assistant, and a Native American guide serving as a personal protector. The author offers insight into human motivations, complexities and incongruities of character, and the yearning for answers, sometimes at the cost of inventing a solution.

It is divided into four sections with many short chapters using different narrative perspectives. The setting becomes a significant part of the story. The writing style is eloquent. The atmospheric descriptions of the harsh landscape of the Canadian winter deliver an almost palpable feeling of icy desolation. Like the titular wolf, people can be misunderstood or judged by their appearance. The author deftly explores this theme in subtle ways throughout the story, showing we are often wrong about that which we do not understand.

An amazing amalgamation of history, adventure, betrayal, tragic loss, and forbidden love, it is not solely a riveting mystery but also an impressive literary achievement. Highly recommended.
( )

Nothing is quite what it seems. Read this for a book group and the general consensus seemed to be that those who didn't finish it didn't think much of it (no real surprise there), but those who did felt that it paid off in the end. But you do need to read all the way to the final chapter, in fact probably the final paragraph (final line?).

And this was very much my view. I found the first third of the book to be a real chore. There seemed to be a whole load of very similar characters that I really didn't give a toss about. That's not to say there weren't some intriguing hooks. There were, but the pay-off really didn't come until much later.

The middle third I probably would have enjoyed more, but I really couldn't sympathise with the main character's growing attraction towards her guide. It seemed that her husband had been deliberately set up by the author as a two dimensional character that it was ok to cheat on. But, as I said at the start, nothing is quite what it seems. Some extra mysteries are set up throughout this section and some partial explanations given. In short, it starts to get interesting.

The final third begins to give some hints and explanations and the whole thing starts to build to quite an exciting conclusion. A great deal of stuff is tied up and concluded very satisfactorily, but there are one or two slightly frustrating loose ends.

In summary: The novel is not perfect. Some of it does feel quite contrived. But, it is on the whole well written, and if you are prepared to read right to the end, it really does deliver. ( )