Book Description
A brilliant and breathtaking debut that captivated readers and garnered critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, The Tenderness of Wolves was long-listed for the Orange Prize in fiction and won the Costa Award (formerly the Whitbread) Book of the Year.
The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. Laurent Jammett had been a voyageur for the Hudson Bay Company before an accident lamed him four years earlier. The same accident afforded him the little parcel of land in Dove River, land that the locals called unlucky due to the untimely death of the previous owner.
A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene and sees the tracks leading from the dead man's cabin north toward the forest and the tundra beyond. It is Mrs. Ross's knock on the door of the largest house in Caulfield that launches the investigation. Within hours she will regret that knock with a mother's love -- for soon she makes another discovery: her seventeen-year-old son Francis has disappeared and is now considered a prime suspect.
In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the crime and to the township -- Andrew Knox, Dove River's elder statesman; Thomas Sturrock, a wily American itinerant trader; Donald Moody, the clumsy young Company representative; William Parker, a half-breed Native American and trapper who was briefly detained for Jammett's murder before becoming Mrs. Ross's guide. But the question remains: do these men want to solve the crime or exploit it?
One by one, the searchers set out from Dove River following the tracks across a desolate landscape -- home to only wild animals, madmen, and fugitives -- variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for seventeen years, and a forgotten Native American culture 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 humor into an exhilarating thriller; a panoramic historical romance; a gripping murder mystery; and, ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, an epic for the ages.
Customer Reviews:
Prose excellent, dialogue dreadful........2007-09-25
I wanted to like this book, given its interesting setting, time period and characters. Unfortunately, I found much of it to be a painful slog. Author Stef Penny is an able writer of prose, but her dialogue is stiff, boring and unvarying from character to character. I've found this to be true of many writers -- the inability to write both fluid prose and realistic dialogue -- and it's too often true for young authors and debut novels. Still, the fact that plonky dialogue is common doesn't make it any nicer to read. Overall, this novel has an interesting plot, some well-rounded characters (Mrs. Ross is complex and intriguing), and enough portentious leads to take you from one chapter to the next. It offers good, solid writing and structure, and it comes across as fresh and original. Readers less particular than I might not even notice any problem when the characters open their mouths, but for me the reading experience was ruined by just about everything that appeared between quotation marks.
Murder & mayhem in the Canadian frontier!.......2007-09-17
I like authors who treat the readers as if we have some intelligence! There are many subtleties to this story. I enjoyed moving along with the story as more details unfolded. Penney's descriptions of her characters are so articulate that we can almost read their minds, so where a plot may seem to dangle, all we have to do is think of who the character is and surmise.
I was drawn to the cover and title of this book, therefore is was a bit puzzling to me where the wolf theme related. All I could come up with was that, as with her chapter headings, there was some sarcasm to it. Wolves are very social and nurturing of their own. The humans in this story were viscious on many levels and the ones living any length of time in the snowy wilderness became barbaric, even.
The bone tablet was simply an enigma. Did it ever truly "exist"?
I liked this book from the beginning and found it more engaging as I read. A very good first novel! Brava, Stef!
Fast-moving and suspenseful.......2007-09-16
Great book - my husband started reading it and has it in his hands whenever he has a spare minute - he is not a huge fiction reader, so that is saying something. Great characterizations and gripping storyline ... Last of the Mohicans meets Hercule Poirot?
Multiple characters, multiple plot lines, well-juggled........2007-08-30
The setting of THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES is the Northwest Territory of Canada. A trapper, Laurent Jamment, has been murdered and Francis Ross a local youth who has also disappeared, is one of the main suspects. Tracks lead north into the wilderness.
Several characters head out after Francis Ross, including Donald Moody, a Hudson Bay official, and Jacob, his Indian guide. At first Moody is one of the most sympathetic characters in the book. He's not prepared for the rigors of life in the wild, plus he has sort of an inferiority complex. He's also in love with Susannah, Andrew Knox's daughter. Knox is like the mayor of Caulfield, the biggest town in the area.
The first man arrested in the murder investigation is William Parker, a half-breed voyageur, who was seen searching Laurent Jamment's cabin. When a Hudson Bay official uses torture to pry the truth out of Parker, Andrew Know releases him. Shortly thereafter Francis's mother and Parker follow the others into the wilderness.
There are dozens of characters in THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES, most of whom have their own viewpoint; however, Mrs. Ross is the only one who speaks to us in first person. There are also several plot threads. In addition to the murder plot, we have a budding romance between Mrs. Ross and Parker and a homosexual relationship between Francis and Laurent Jamment (portrayed in Francis`s memory). Then we have the Seton sisters, two sisters who disappeared several years prior to the murder, while out berry picking. Throw in the bone with mysterious markings on it that Francis took from Laurent's belongings and we have almost as many plot threads as characters.
To complicate matters more fully, Mrs. Ross has a mysterious past. At one time she was confined to an insane asylum where she was a laudanum addict. Occasionally, Stef Penney will flash back to those times.
Also, way out in the middle of the wilderness there's a fundamentalist Lutheran settlement called Himmelvanger (The Fields of Heaven) and several characters there have their own plot thread as well.
Somehow, Stef Penney is able to balance all of these different viewpoints and plot lines into a coherent narrative. My soul problem was with the ending. It fizzles to say the least. We find out who murdered Laurent Jamment, but several of the other plot lines are left hanging.
Not a Beach Book..........2007-08-29
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book once I got into it, it was a challenge to figure out what was going on. The story itself is really interesting and the setting is fabulously well-drawn, but there are so many names to remember that it is kind of tough going, at times. The first 50 pages or so are completely hard to follow, but stick with it and it will begin to gel later on. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view, and while interesting, it makes for a lot of head scratching. The names of many of the characters are similar, and we often go through 100 pages or more before a character is mentioned again. I would recommend this to the more sophisticated reader. This is not a book to be casually leafed through while sitting on the beach at Waikiki. One other thing, I can't imagine why the publishers decided to make this book a "summer release". The setting is so dark, cold, and snowy that it's difficult to even imagine what these people are feeling as we are suffocating of heat here in the Pacific Northwest in August. Overall, after a slow start, this book got under my skin and is now one of my all-time favorites. But it's not for everyone.
Average customer rating:
- One great story, one great poem, then a drop-off
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Tenderness of the Wolves
Dennis Cooper
Manufacturer: Crossing Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0895940655 |
Customer Reviews:
One great story, one great poem, then a drop-off.......1998-08-07
Dennis Cooper, before turning to novels, wrote several books of poetry and short-short stories. The good news about The Tenderness of the Wolves is its super final story, a longer piece called "A Herd", where Cooper begins to explore dark areas, including mutilation, rape, and sadism, which he later returns to in his novels. "A Herd" is haunting and brutal, verging on shocking on a first read. His exploration of these difficult topics is strong, yet subtle. Also included in this book is "Being Aware," among the best of all Cooper's poetry. Unfortunately, beyond that, the poems are a marked dropoff, distinctly less interesting than in Cooper's earlier book, Idols. He covers the territory of bored, sexually peaked teenagers better than anyone, but these poems don't show more than flashes of true insight. In addition, if anyone wants to read a truly overblown analyzation of Cooper's work, check out the introduction to this book, written by! noted novelist and essayist Edmund White.
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Orchids of South-West Australia
Noel Hoffman , and
Andrew Brown
Manufacturer: Univ of Western Australia Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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Ornamental Plants
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By Plant
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ASIN: 1875560130 |
Book Description
A revised edition of the sell-out second edition, which includes over forty new species in a full-colour supplement. The complete text has been updated and many new plates added. Orchids of South-West Australia is a definitive work which describes almost 450 orchids and provides an accurate and easy means of identifying the native orchids of the region. Colour photographs, location maps and a description of each orchid - giving distinctive features, distribution, habitat, flowering period and common name - have made this an invaluable and popular guide.
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Field Guide to the Orchids of New South Wales and Victoria
Tony Bishop
Manufacturer: UNSW Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Flowers
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ASIN: 0868407062 |
Book Description
"An excellent choice for people who want everything under one cover." - Washington Post
When you're headed to a resort destination, you need different information than most travel guides can provide. Sure, you want to know about all the sights, great restaurants, and cool places to stay--but you also need detailed information on activities and sports, how to rent a condo, and which is the best grocery store to stock up on picnic supplies. Fodor's Pocket guides delivers all this and more in a convenient pocket-size book.
All the basics you need to help you decide what to see and do.
Smart contacts and detailed practical information, including the scoop on public transportation, local holidays, what to pack and more.
Great choices for
dining and lodging in every price range.
Great recommendations for shopping nightlife, outdoor, activities, and essential side trips.
Up-to-the-minute info on
local celebrities and traditions make you feel like an insider.
"Perfect Days and Nights" itineraries make planning (even a rainy day) fun.
Detailed maps with sights, restaurants, night spots, and hotels clearly marked.
Book Description
The ten stories that make up this collection are raw, original, and fresh. Although they are all about American Indians, they are as different from one another as they are from anything you've read before.
A supermarket checkout line, a rowboat on a freezing lake at dawn, a drunken dance in the gym, an ice hockey game on public-access TV. These are some of the backgrounds against which ten outstanding authors have created their memorable characters. Their work -- both poignant and funny, sarcastic and serious -- reminds us that the American Indian story is far from over -- it's being written every day.
Customer Reviews:
Add to your personal, professional library today.......2005-10-25
The stories in this collection, all written by Native authors, go a long way towards countering the idea that Native Americans vanished long ago. Fresh and vibrant, you and your teens will enjoy each one.
Book Description
Major researchers in the field present overviews of current thinking about the form and determinants of macroecological patterns. Each section presents different viewpoints on the answer to a key question in macroecology: Why are most species rare and small-bodied, and restricted in their distribution?
Average customer rating:
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Microdosimetry: An Interdisciplinary Approach (Special Publication / Royal Society of Chemistry)
Manufacturer: Royal Society of Chemistry
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Nuclear Chemistry
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Environmental Science
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General
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ASIN: 0854047379 |
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Math Matters Book 2, Student Edition
Chicha Lynch
Manufacturer: South-Western Educational Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0538681098 |
Book Description
Math Matters is designed to help all your students succeed. Rather than isolating the branches of mathematics, this three-book program reinforces the connections between algebra and geometry while developing problem-solving skills. This comprehensive program includes a Teacher's Annotated Edition, Student Supplement (in English and Spanish), Overhead Transparencies, Tests, Assessment Options, Answer Key, MicroExam II for Apple, Mac, and IBM formats, and Teacher's Resources.
Book Description
A master of the American short story, in a two-volume collector's edition
Over the course of a long and astonishingly productive literary career that stretched from the early 1890s to just before World War II, Edith Wharton published nearly a dozen story collections, leaving a body of work as various as it is enduring. With this two-volume set, The Library of America presents the finest of Wharton's achievement in short fiction: 67 stories drawn from the entire span of her writing life, including the novella-length works The Touchstone, Sanctuary, and Bunner Sisters, eight shorter pieces never collected by Wharton, and many stories long out-of-print.
Her range of setting and subject matter is dazzling, and her mastery of style consistently sure. Here are all the aspects of Wharton's art: her satire, sometimes gentle, sometimes dark and despairing, of upper-class manners; her unblinking recognition of the power of social convention and the limits of passion; her merciless exposure of commercial motivations; her candid exploration of relations between the sexes.
The stories range with cosmopolitan ease from her native New York to the salons and summer hotels of Newport, Paris, and the Italian lakes. The depth of her response to World War I is registered in such works as "The Marne." Of particular interest are the remarkable stories, which treat occult and supernatural themes rarely encountered in her novels, such as the classic ghost stories "The Eyes" and "Pomegranate Seed."
Customer Reviews:
Olympic quality writing..........2005-12-18
Can you pick a favorite Edith Wharton short story? Teddy Roosevelt did, and it is here.
It is also my favorite - a fabulous poke at provincial reading groups, ostentatious authors and the unsuspected wise souls in their midst.
Read "Xingu" and savor every well chosen word. Ms Wharton is a pro and this is Olympic quality writing.
Book Description
Combining two volumes of Wharton's short stories in a brand new edition, this outstanding selection is the most comprehensive available. Although Edith Wharton is best known for her novels The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth, this extensive collection of her short fiction shows her to be a master of all its varieties. Wharton’s stories ... owe their enduring power to portray the emotional consequences of life in a rarefied world.”—The New York Times
Customer Reviews:
Great Collection.......1998-11-28
This collection of stories is a treasure for those who love the works of Edith Wharton. Her short stories are amazing and enlightning. This book does a wonderufl job of collecting some of the most well known and loved short stories of Edith Wharton...
Book Description
A master of the American short story, in a two-volume collector's editionOver the course of a long and astonishingly productive literary career that stretched from the early 1890s to just before World War II, Edith Wharton published nearly a dozen story collections, leaving a body of work as various as it is enduring. With this two-volume set, The Library of America presents the finest of Wharton's achievement in short fiction: 67 stories drawn from the entire span of her writing life, including the novella-length works The Touchstone, Sanctuary, and Bunner Sisters, eight shorter pieces never collected by Wharton, and many stories long out-of-print.
Her range of setting and subject matter is dazzling, and her mastery of style consistently sure. Here are all the aspects of Wharton's art: her satire, sometimes gentle, sometimes dark and despairing, of upper-class manners; her unblinking recognition of the power of social convention and the limits of passion; her merciless exposure of commercial motivations; her candid exploration of relations between the sexes.
The stories range with cosmopolitan ease from her native New York to the salons and summer hotels of Newport, Paris, and the Italian lakes. The depth of her response to World War I is registered in such works as "The Marne." Of particular interest are the remarkable stories, which treat occult and supernatural themes rarely encountered in her novels, such as the classic ghost stories "The Eyes" and "Pomegranate Seed."
Average customer rating:
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Collected Short Stories (2 Volumes)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: SCRIBNER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Wharton, Edith
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ASIN: B000ST8U5A |
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Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Macmillan Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Textbook Binding
Wharton, Edith
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Wharton, Edith
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ASIN: 9997410157 |
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Collected Stories of Edith Wharton Part 2 of 5
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Books On Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
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Wharton, Edith
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ASIN: 5557024689 |
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Collected Stories of Edith Wharton Part 3 of 5
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Books On Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
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ASIN: 5557024816 |
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Collected Stories of Edith Wharton Part 5 of 5
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Books On Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
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Wharton, Edith
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ASIN: 5557025073 |
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Descent of Man and Other Stories, The (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton - 43 Volumes)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Classic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Wharton, Edith
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Wharton, Edith
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ASIN: 1582019754 |
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Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories, The (The Collected Works of Edith Wharton - 43 Volumes)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Classic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Wharton, Edith
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Literary
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Wharton, Edith
| ( W )
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ASIN: 1582019827 |
Books:
- This Incomperable Lande; A Book of American Nature Writing
- Thoreau on Water: Reflecting Heaven
- Ulysses' Sail: An Ethnographic Odyssey of Power, Knowledge, and Geographical Distance
- Uncertainty Analysis in Ecological Risk Assessment (Setac Special Publication Series)
- Vermilion Sea a Naturalist's Journey in Baja California
- Walkin' on the Happy Side of Misery: A Slice of Life on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail)
- Walking With Muir Across Yosemite
- Wild Africa Three Centuries of Nature Writing From Africa
- Wild Mammals of New England: Field Guide Edition
- Wilderness Visionaries: Leopold, Thoreau, Muir, Olson, Murie, Service, Marshall, Rutstrum
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