LoveReading Says
Shortlisted for the Newcomer of the Year Award at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2008.
Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2006.
A big sweeping drama set in an icy Canada of 1867. A trapper is murdered, a young man disappears into the wilderness, agents from the Hudson Bay Company are called for and a small settlement is in turmoil. Trackers arrive, secrets appear, love blossoms, duty calls … and the whole mystery and adventure is revealed to us through different voices in a thoroughly intriguing manner. I found this very difficult to put down, it haunted me until I could come to it again. Full of strong characters and magnificently visual descriptions, it is a wonderful read.
Similar this month: None but try James Morrow.
Comparison: Alistair MacLeod, Joseph Boyden, Leif Enger.
Costa Book Awards 2006 Judges' comment: "The Tenderness of Wolves is atmospheric, gripping and compassionate and perfectly evokes the snowy wastes of nineteenth-century Canada."
Sarah Broadhurst
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The Tenderness of Wolves Synopsis
1867, Canada - As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a man is brutally murdered and a 17-year old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead man's cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township - journalists, Hudson's Bay Company men, trappers, traders - but do they want to solve the crime, or exploit it? One-by-one the assembled searchers set out from Dove River, pursuing the tracks across a desolate landscape home only to wild animals, madmen and fugitives, variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for 17 years, a forgotten Native American culture, and a fortune in stolen furs before the snows settle and cover the tracks of the past for good. In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney deftly weaves adventure, suspense, revelation and humour into a panoramic historical romance, an exhilarating thriller, a keen murder mystery and ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, one of the books of the year.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780857388797 |
| Publication date: |
1st March 2007 |
| Author: |
Stef Penney |
| Publisher: |
Quercus Publishing Plc |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Primary Genre |
Crime and Mystery
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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About Stef Penney
Stef Penney was born and grew up in Edinburgh. After a degree in Philosophy and Theology from Bristol University she turned to film-making, studying Film and TV at Bournemouth College of Art. On graduation she was selected for the Carlton Television New Writers Scheme and has since written and directed two short films. She is the author of The Tenderness of Wolves and The Invisible Ones.
Author photo © Ian Phillips McLaren
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