History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2017, 275 pp
This reading group pick, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, was a beautifully written first novel that did not entirely work for me. Despite the wonderful prose, it was unrelievedly sad. Perhaps I was not in the mood for so much sadness.
Linda tells her story from memories she has as a young woman, interspersing details of her current life. It is obvious that she has not moved on from her odd childhood and her traumatic high school years.
She has no memory of a mother in babyhood, just another girl child with whom she slept. The commune in the northern Minnesota woods where she was born dissolved, leaving a man and woman whom she calls mother and dad. Her only friend growing up was a Native American girl named Lily.
When a family moves into a cabin across the lake, Linda becomes the babysitter for their four-year-old boy, Paul. This is such a Are You My Mother? story. Sometimes Linda wonders if the cold, reproving aging hippy she calls mother is really her mom. Perhaps Paul's mother would be a better one.
The Gardner family is almost more weird than Linda's own but it takes the whole book to find out why. By then Linda feels complicit in the tragedy that strikes them.
The disjointed, dreamy tone got to me. This study in human disconnection without any glimmer of hope left me depressed. Some say that we read to know we are not alone. I am not anywhere near as alone as Linda, but all these lonely people got into my soul and I was just bereft.
Unfortunately I missed the reading group discussion due to illness, but several of them emailed me their thoughts and it was clear that even after a good long talk about the novel, they were not able to pinpoint exactly why no one liked the book entirely.
I've seen this book make the rounds in the blogosphere and people have strong reactions to it. I'm not quite sure I've gotten the essence of it after reading several reviews but I have an idea of where it leads to. No wonder you felt overwhelmed. Don't get too involved with your reading, Judy. I hope you feel better already.
ReplyDeleteI get too involved in everything I do. Detachment is not my style. But I do bounce back-:)
DeleteGlad to read your review of this novel. I've had it on my reading wishlist for a short while, but it sounds too depressing to me. I'll pass on reading it now.
ReplyDeleteOK. I think you will not regret missing this one.
Delete"Disjointed and dreamy" doesn't do anything for me, either, Judy. I think I'll pass on this one. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteNo problem!
DeleteYes I guess the disturbing reveal of the novel -- and whether it fit or not -- was one of the reasons I wasn't totally taken with it. It's a hard novel to fully like -- though it is a coming of age first person narrative which are often appealing ... still it's unsettling & creepy too and the reveal did me in. I was surprised it made the final round of the Booker.
ReplyDeleteI think she got the finalist slot because the writing is really quite good. The story, not so much.
DeleteI quite liked this book - although "like" seems totally the wrong word. I found it compelling and the repellant characters engrossing. It was a complicated story with a touch of the psychological thriller that conveyed a sense of dread throughout and the dread was well-founded. I really thought Fridlund's plotting and prose were masterful.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to have another point of view here, Dorothy. Thanks.
DeleteI'm not the biggest fan of sad novels.... my life is sad enough without added help. I like happy books, so I'm going to skip this one. Though that cover is so pretty <3
ReplyDeleteFor me, there is pure sad and sad with some nods to human resiliency. This one was pure sad for me and you would not find any happiness there. Best to stick with your own preferences.
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