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 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 waves 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.
The Tenderness of Wolves
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“This subtle and superb novel brings the freezing landscape of the Canadian woods to such vivid life that the landscape itself becomes a strong character within the story. Once you have dived into the tiny, closeted world of Caulfield and its forbidding surroundings, you will certainly not wish to leave.” Crimesquad.com
“…Stef Penney's hefty first novel The Tenderness of Wolves, mines her setting and period for all it's got and then some, injecting plenty of invented intrigue and Da Vinci Code like revelations of Huge Cultural Importance whenever she can. The result is an entertaining, well-constructed mystery that jazzes up the “real” history in a way that's more Ron Howard than Pierre Berton. It's…sexy, suspenseful, densely plotted storytelling…The Tenderness of Wolves remains a first-rate gripper with a notably sensual as well as psychological understanding of its main characters. More than this, it is a novel with far greater ambitions than your average thriller, combining as it does the themes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness with Atwood's Survival, and lashing them to a story that morphs Ian Rankin…” Andrew Pyper, The Globe and Mail
… a highly-assured debut….Stef Penney has written an absorbing and stylish mystery. The Glasgow Herald
… a quite remarkable debut novel.' Birmingham Post
a tense and delicately written thriller - The Observer
unquestionably atmospheric, evocative and eventually rewarding - Independent On Sunday
“…Stef Penney's hefty first novel The Tenderness of Wolves, mines her setting and period for all it's got and then some, injecting plenty of invented intrigue and Da Vinci Code like revelations of Huge Cultural Importance whenever she can. The result is an entertaining, well-constructed mystery that jazzes up the “real” history in a way that's more Ron Howard than Pierre Berton. It's…sexy, suspenseful, densely plotted storytelling…The Tenderness of Wolves remains a first-rate gripper with a notably sensual as well as psychological understanding of its main characters. More than this, it is a novel with far greater ambitions than your average thriller, combining as it does the themes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness with Atwood's Survival, and lashing them to a story that morphs Ian Rankin…” Andrew Pyper, The Globe and Mail
… a highly-assured debut….Stef Penney has written an absorbing and stylish mystery. The Glasgow Herald
… a quite remarkable debut novel.' Birmingham Post
a tense and delicately written thriller - The Observer
unquestionably atmospheric, evocative and eventually rewarding - Independent On Sunday
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Winner of the Costa Book Award 2007
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
157 of 160 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Stef Penney's debut has attracted some hostility from the literary establishment on winning the Costa (formerly Whitbread) prize as Book of the Year,largely because "nobody has read it" and the author researched her subject in libraries rather than by trekking through the wastes of Canada. Well, stuff them. It's a terrific novel, and the judges were absolutely right to prefer it over Boyd's latest or even the charming memoir about a happy East End childhood.
Mrs. Ross, the narrator, is a Scottish pioneer and ex-asylum inmate who discovers the body of a French trapper, murdered and scalped in his house near Dove river. Her beautiful, adopted 17 year old son Francis has disappeared, and so has the victim's money and a piece of bone which may prove the "Indians" had a written culture. A half-breed Cherokee trapper is arrested and beaten up to try nad force a confession out of him, but the magistrate has more compassion than the fur-trading company to whom all are in thrall, and releases him. Mrs Ross and Parker embark on an epic journey, tracking her son and another, fainter set of footprints, across snow and ice. In their wake are more Company hunters, bent on tracking them down...
It is a wonderful story, set in 1867 and featuring an agoraphobic heroine who must overcome her fears (and her growing passion for her guide) to find justice. In many ways it reminded me of Ursula le Guin's masterpiece, The Left-Hand of Darkness, for though this is meticulously researched historical fiction, not fantasy, it shares the same sense of passion and desperation growing on the extreme edges of civilisation. All the characters are well-drawn, and though the narrative switches between first and third person, it is consistently interesting and beautifully written. My one complaint is that the Line subplot, about some religious Scandanavian settlers, isn't really necessary. It's about racial prejudice, mother love, greed, illicit passion and what happens to people when they spend too much time alone. Whether you like detective novels or literary fiction it's unmissable.
Mrs. Ross, the narrator, is a Scottish pioneer and ex-asylum inmate who discovers the body of a French trapper, murdered and scalped in his house near Dove river. Her beautiful, adopted 17 year old son Francis has disappeared, and so has the victim's money and a piece of bone which may prove the "Indians" had a written culture. A half-breed Cherokee trapper is arrested and beaten up to try nad force a confession out of him, but the magistrate has more compassion than the fur-trading company to whom all are in thrall, and releases him. Mrs Ross and Parker embark on an epic journey, tracking her son and another, fainter set of footprints, across snow and ice. In their wake are more Company hunters, bent on tracking them down...
It is a wonderful story, set in 1867 and featuring an agoraphobic heroine who must overcome her fears (and her growing passion for her guide) to find justice. In many ways it reminded me of Ursula le Guin's masterpiece, The Left-Hand of Darkness, for though this is meticulously researched historical fiction, not fantasy, it shares the same sense of passion and desperation growing on the extreme edges of civilisation. All the characters are well-drawn, and though the narrative switches between first and third person, it is consistently interesting and beautifully written. My one complaint is that the Line subplot, about some religious Scandanavian settlers, isn't really necessary. It's about racial prejudice, mother love, greed, illicit passion and what happens to people when they spend too much time alone. Whether you like detective novels or literary fiction it's unmissable.
53 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Stef Penney's debut has attracted some hostility from the literary establishment on winning the Costa (formerly Whitbread) prize as Book of the Year,largely because "nobody has read it" and the author researched her subject in libraries rather than by trekking through the wastes of Canada. Well, stuff them. It's a terrific novel, and the judges were absolutely right to prefer it over Boyd's latest or even the charming memoir about a happy East End childhood.
Mrs. Ross, the narrator, is a Scottish pioneer and ex-asylum inmate who discovers the body of a French trapper, murdered and scalped in his house near Dove river. Her beautiful, adopted 17 year old son Francis has disappeared, and so has the victim's money and a piece of bone which may prove the "Indians" had a written culture. A half-breed Cherokee trapper is arrested and beaten up to try nad force a confession out of him, but the magistrate has more compassion than the fur-trading company to whom all are in thrall, and releases him. Mrs Ross and Parker embark on an epic journey, tracking her son and another, fainter set of footprints, across snow and ice. In their wake are more Company hunters, bent on tracking them down...
It is a wonderful story, set in 1867 and featuring an agoraphobic heroine who must overcome her fears (and her growing passion for her guide) to find justice. In many ways it reminded me of Ursula le Guin's masterpiece, The Left-Hand of Darkness, for though this is meticulously researched historical fiction, not fantasy, it shares the same sense of passion and desperation growing on the extreme edges of civilisation. All the characters are well-drawn, and though the narrative switches between first and third person, it is consistently interesting and beautifully written. My one complaint is that the Line subplot, about some religious Scandanavian settlers, isn't really necessary. It's about racial prejudice, mother love, greed, illicit passion and what happens to people when they spend too much time alone. Whether you like detective novels or literary fiction it's unmissable.
Mrs. Ross, the narrator, is a Scottish pioneer and ex-asylum inmate who discovers the body of a French trapper, murdered and scalped in his house near Dove river. Her beautiful, adopted 17 year old son Francis has disappeared, and so has the victim's money and a piece of bone which may prove the "Indians" had a written culture. A half-breed Cherokee trapper is arrested and beaten up to try nad force a confession out of him, but the magistrate has more compassion than the fur-trading company to whom all are in thrall, and releases him. Mrs Ross and Parker embark on an epic journey, tracking her son and another, fainter set of footprints, across snow and ice. In their wake are more Company hunters, bent on tracking them down...
It is a wonderful story, set in 1867 and featuring an agoraphobic heroine who must overcome her fears (and her growing passion for her guide) to find justice. In many ways it reminded me of Ursula le Guin's masterpiece, The Left-Hand of Darkness, for though this is meticulously researched historical fiction, not fantasy, it shares the same sense of passion and desperation growing on the extreme edges of civilisation. All the characters are well-drawn, and though the narrative switches between first and third person, it is consistently interesting and beautifully written. My one complaint is that the Line subplot, about some religious Scandanavian settlers, isn't really necessary. It's about racial prejudice, mother love, greed, illicit passion and what happens to people when they spend too much time alone. Whether you like detective novels or literary fiction it's unmissable.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By Suzie
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The first few chapters of this book failed to capture my interest, but as I read on I became more and more engrossed. Part of the problem was my initial dislike for the main protagonist, Mrs Ross, who seemed aloof and unsympathetic. But as more of her motivations and background were revealed she became someone with whom it was easier to empathise. She was certainly courageous.
Various threads have been cleverly woven into this accomplished first novel, although I agree that the bone tablet seems little more than a distraction. No doubt with more thought it could have had greater relevance. There are a lot of characters, but the author handled her large cast effectively, avoiding any confusion about who they all were.
The ending is perhaps a bit sudden, predictable even (but only late in the book), and although there are some loose ends, they were not left hanging entirely free - there is nothing wrong with being left to imagine what might or might not ensue from the hints and insinuations scattered through the final chapters.
As others have said, one of the strengths of the book is its portrayal of vast snow-covered forests and wilderness. There are other books with an equally strong if not better sense of coldness - Helen Dunmore's 'The Siege' and 'A Spell of Winter', for instance, or Anita Shreve's 'Light on Snow' - but nevertheless, Stef Penney's descriptions are shiveringly realistic.
It is obvious from the other reviews that the book has disappointed some. It isn't perfect, but I can only say that I found it an easy and enjoyable read - and certainly one I would recommend.
Various threads have been cleverly woven into this accomplished first novel, although I agree that the bone tablet seems little more than a distraction. No doubt with more thought it could have had greater relevance. There are a lot of characters, but the author handled her large cast effectively, avoiding any confusion about who they all were.
The ending is perhaps a bit sudden, predictable even (but only late in the book), and although there are some loose ends, they were not left hanging entirely free - there is nothing wrong with being left to imagine what might or might not ensue from the hints and insinuations scattered through the final chapters.
As others have said, one of the strengths of the book is its portrayal of vast snow-covered forests and wilderness. There are other books with an equally strong if not better sense of coldness - Helen Dunmore's 'The Siege' and 'A Spell of Winter', for instance, or Anita Shreve's 'Light on Snow' - but nevertheless, Stef Penney's descriptions are shiveringly realistic.
It is obvious from the other reviews that the book has disappointed some. It isn't perfect, but I can only say that I found it an easy and enjoyable read - and certainly one I would recommend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The tenderness of Wolves
A good book, which I had to read for my book club. Everybody agreed that it was an enjoyable book, although there were rather a lot of characters, and sub plots, which sometimes... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Carol A Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars
a must read
Steff Penny has wrote this wonderful novel. It is defintely a good read and a must read. I highly recommend this book.
Published 1 month ago by bookmoviefanatic
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ticks all boxes
It's a very easy read, could not put it down, after being to the Rockies in 2010, I found the descriptions so factual ... a good story ... every box is ticked.
Published 2 months ago by Mrs Pearl Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling tale
Good robust compelling tale with unsaid notions that leave you thinking and wanting just a bit more, but that you know that further explanation would detract from the art and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jean Higgins
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth sticking with
I struggled to get into this book but was glad that I persevered. It picks up pace about half way through and became a very enjoyable read.
Published 2 months ago by Fatbear
1.0 out of 5 stars
Only read to the end to find out who did the murder
A frustrating and disappointing read. The Costa judges said this book stood out from a very strong shortlist and I selected the book on that basis. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Alexander Kreator
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping read
An extremely unusual story with many twists and turns,but no happy ending unfortunately, well written with beautiful characterisation. Well worth reading.
Published 3 months ago by E. Armstrong
4.0 out of 5 stars
Overall a good read.
I'm yes and no on this one. Mainly yes. It's well written and obviously well researched. I had several of those "glad it's not me" moments in this cold, harsh, snow-covered,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jill in East Kent
5.0 out of 5 stars
Atmospheric and engaging
This wasn't just a great page-turner with an element of 'who did it?' and 'will they, won't they?', but the wintry, barely-mapped landscape of Canada in 1867 is completely... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Tasha Harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars
A better read than I thought it would be.
Not my usual choice of book, but I ploughed on and quite enjoyed the varied strands of the story and the different characters who appeared.
Published 4 months ago by Puzzler
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