An engaging and big novel that’s less about wolves, and more about instinct, wildness, independence and sexual connection coupled with big themes like Scottish political independence, class privilege and the UK’s national identity – 4 stars.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Drama, Conservation, Politics.
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review in one word: Fierce
Rachel Caine is a 40 year old project manager of a wolf sanctuary in Idaho who is summoned by an earl in England’s Lake District to run a novel wolf sanctuary close to the Scottish Borders. This is close by to Rachel’s childhood home, where she was reared by her mother Binnie and half brother in a tumultuous miasma of her mother’s alcohol, parties and countless sexual partners.
The haunting threads of womanhood, sexuality, motherhood, independence, nature, wildness and instinct, domesticity, relationships and connection mingle in a compelling way in this novel. Along with broader political themes like Scottish political independence, Brexit, English aristocracy and the arrogance of the landed gentry and their outdated but frustratingly persistent power structure in England.
It comes between the bushes as if bidden. It comes forward, mercilessly towards her, paw lifting, fast, but not running. A word she will soon learn: lope. It is perfectly made, long legs, sheer chest, dressed for coldness in wraps of grey fur. It comes close to the wire and stands looking at her, eyes level, pure yellow gaze. Long nose, black tip twitching, short mane. A dog before dogs were invented. The god of all dogs. It is a creature so fine, she can hardly comprehend it. But it recognises her. it has seen and smelled animals like her for two million years. She is hanging in the air, suspended like a soft offering. Any minute it will be upon her.
These threads and themes are all intricately woven together in this potent and visceral novel that brings together the personal and political into a tightly woven rope. Contrary to what I expected, this is NOT a novel about wolves, the wolves are secondary – this is a book about the human and more-than-human worlds colliding together and the political and psychological complexities of relationships and animal yearnings and instincts in humans. Another enjoyable aspect of this book were the descriptions of nature, the seasons and the wolves- these are beautifully and potently rendered and dance in the memory long after.
All about her, the season is surprisingly lovely, unsettled and kinetic, then wildless, held. The air is moist and downy. There are flashes of tropical colour on the bare twigs. She does not remember Cumbria being so exotic.
In the hands of a less skilled writer, this book would falter, but writer Sarah Hall has crafted a collection of believable, compelling and interesting characters and especially the heroine of the book Rachel Caine whose personal journey through the book is deep and satisfying. The tension about the wolves and their uncertain future and the future of Britain itself in the era of Brexit is carefully baked into the narrative arc.
The story does slow down to a slow trickle about three quarters in, with Rachel giving birth and caring for her infant. Perhaps this slowing down in pace is deliberate and matches the pace of motherhood itself. Everything is fascinating metaphor in this book and mirrors the instinctual wildness of the wolves themselves – who are running and cavorting mostly in our imaginations and in the background of the novel, not front and centre as was expected.
The novel picks up the pace for a cracking, frenetic conclusion which is rather satisfying. I would rate this book 4 stars, simply because it seemed to get lost and become too stagnant towards the middle – then it picks up again. Other than this, it’s a finely crafted story, rich with psychological complexity and authentic characters and I would heartily recommend it.
Content Catnip 