"A brilliant and breathtaking debut that captivated readers and garnered critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, " The Tenderness of Wolves "was lo...
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Feb 08, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
Sometimes insightful remarks are made which are so reductive they have the power to diminish life even as they explain it. In 1939 Alfred Hitchcock explained in a lecture at Columbia University: "We have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin.' It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is most always the papers." Wikipedia elaborates:
A MacGuffin is a plot device that More...
A MacGuffin is a plot device that More...
12 comments
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(27 people liked it)
Oct 10, 2010
Hannah
rated it: 
This is a frustrating novel on so many levels. It's one of those books you read where it could and should be brilliant, but suffers from an excess of trying to be too clever, hip and cutting edge in character development and writing technique.
The POV changes constantly from first person to third person in a sometimes confusing, backtrack-several-paragraphs-to-figure-out-who-is-talking kind of way. There are far, far too many characters and storylines happening as well. This would More...
The POV changes constantly from first person to third person in a sometimes confusing, backtrack-several-paragraphs-to-figure-out-who-is-talking kind of way. There are far, far too many characters and storylines happening as well. This would More...
4 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Dec 13, 2007
Mark
rated it: 
For what it's worth, this is the first book I've read since I joined Goodreads to which I've given five stars. So, at the risk of gushing, I'm telling you to run, don't walk, to reserve this at your local library or buy it.
The setting is the 1860s in Canada, where the small community of Caulfield and cabins strung along the Dove River sit at the edge of the great North Woods. The book opens with the murder of French-Canadian trapper, and that event unlocks several intertwined subplot More...
The setting is the 1860s in Canada, where the small community of Caulfield and cabins strung along the Dove River sit at the edge of the great North Woods. The book opens with the murder of French-Canadian trapper, and that event unlocks several intertwined subplot More...
2 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Aug 01, 2008
Jeremy
rated it:
This book is directed at readers rather than thinkers. I can understand why people like it because there are plenty of wonderfully crafted moments, but the novel lacks focus and depth. I've read a few reviews that ooh and aah over the fact that it's a murder mystery wrapped in a love story hog-tied to a western deep fried in good ol fashioned wilderness tale, but I've always felt that genre divisions are a crutch for people who need the books they read to conform to a series of prearranged att
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(7 people liked it)
Mar 10, 2008
Chris
rated it:
This book received the Costa (Whitbred)Award which I find totally surprising. Certainly the book has all the makings of a great novel. But it is not.
A host of interesting characters, a dramatic environment, a historical setting, even a murder mystery. Lots of interesting characters and criss-crossing paths. Yet it feels more like a soap opera at times than anything else.
I think the choice of the author to give a first person voice to one character and then use third per More...
A host of interesting characters, a dramatic environment, a historical setting, even a murder mystery. Lots of interesting characters and criss-crossing paths. Yet it feels more like a soap opera at times than anything else.
I think the choice of the author to give a first person voice to one character and then use third per More...
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(4 people liked it)
Mar 19, 2008
Trin
rated it:
A historical mystery set in Canada, and featuring what are essentially the precursors to Mounties and gay characters. I really thought I was going to like this book. Instead, I struggled to keep up with its meandering pace and mostly unsympathetic characters, only to be confronted by a conclusion that just cuts out like the end of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” I know that sort of thing is supposed to be arty and true-to-life, but is a little bit of closure so much to ask? Several plot threads a
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(4 people liked it)
Apr 24, 2009
Susan
rated it:
My interest in this novel was heighted by two outside pieces of information: that the author was a screenwriter and that she had never been to the area north of Georgian Bay where the novel is set (and had been criticized for it). The first interested me because the novel is “cinematic” and written in scenes—and moves forward at a compelling pace; the second, because I’ve been decrying the place that research has assumed in novel writing these days and completely accept the author’s counter that
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4 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Aug 07, 2010
Merty
rated it:
I LOVED this book, one of the best books I've read this year. If only more books were written like this!!! This was the best book to read while there is a heatwave outside, as this story tells the tale of an isolated settlement at Dove River during a snowy wasteland with wolves. This book was a thriller/mystery and historical romance set in a kess populated backwood of Canada. Told from different points of view that kept me reading late into the night. Since there where a constant change
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3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
May 21, 2008
Krista
rated it: 
Well it's 1:20 AM and I just finished this well written page turner. Would probably give it 4 1/2 for capturing my interest. When my book club chose this I didn't think I would like it because I usually don't read murder mysteries. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the weaving storylines and plots and the way the characters were connected in what I was imagining to be a vast wintery wilderness. I also enjoyed the contrast of the first and third person narratives. I'm not sure I
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Apr 02, 2008
Shana
rated it:
I picked this up at Penn Station one evening when I was unexpectedly stuck in NYC. I couldn't decide which book to buy, and my boyfriend made the decision for me. (I think he picked it because his last name means wolves.)
I started to read, and I was immediately struck by the interesting choice of having only one character in first person. The other chapters, though not in first person, are for the most part closely aligned with a single character. I could see why Penney chose Mrs More...
I started to read, and I was immediately struck by the interesting choice of having only one character in first person. The other chapters, though not in first person, are for the most part closely aligned with a single character. I could see why Penney chose Mrs More...
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(4 people liked it)
Feb 23, 2008
Dotty
rated it:
This book is set in backwoods Canada in 1867. It tells a series of interconnected stories about events in a small settlement on the edge of the forest. In many ways the Hudson Bay Company is the villain in its practices toward fur traders and Native Americans. There are several mysteries to be solved. One is the decades-old disappearance of two sisters who went walking and never returned and the other is the murder of a local Frenchman who traps and trades furs. One part of the story
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Oct 25, 2007
Lesley
rated it:
Penney is a wordsmith and good historian. So what is the matter with her book that I won't give it five stars? It did not seem to have flesh and blood northerners or come from the Arctic.
I just read this by the Guardian: "The (Costa) judges said it made them feel 'enveloped in the snowy wastes' of Canada in 1867. Penney, agoraphobic at the time, did all her research in the British Library."
That must be the problem. I did not feel 'enveloped' by the wastes created in More...
I just read this by the Guardian: "The (Costa) judges said it made them feel 'enveloped in the snowy wastes' of Canada in 1867. Penney, agoraphobic at the time, did all her research in the British Library."
That must be the problem. I did not feel 'enveloped' by the wastes created in More...
3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Sep 09, 2007
Letha
rated it:
I read a review of The Tenderness of Wolves in the New York Times Book Review and thought it sounded like something I'd love. However it turned out to be less -- and more -- than I expected.
The story involves a mother's search for her teenage son in the Canadian wilderness in the late 1800s. Had the author stayed with that storyline, I think I would have liked the book more. However, it veered all over the place, jumping to subplots about a missing bone tablet with mysterious inscri More...
The story involves a mother's search for her teenage son in the Canadian wilderness in the late 1800s. Had the author stayed with that storyline, I think I would have liked the book more. However, it veered all over the place, jumping to subplots about a missing bone tablet with mysterious inscri More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 01, 2008
Mike
rated it:
This is easily one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time. The prose, particularly when used in the first person perspective of Mrs. Ross, really drew me in. This combined with the very human nature of both the story and characters made them human. Being from areas near and similar to the setting in the book I was surprised at the author’s ability to craft the feeling of the Northwood’s in winter, and particularly the feelings I had as a child during my first experie
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(2 people liked it)
Dec 22, 2007
Alicia
rated it:
This was a really riveting novel set in the wild north of Canada in 1867; a woman's son disappears after their neighbor is murdered, and she sets off to track him down, with the help of a mysterious man. Various other characters are drawn into the case, including the relatives of two young girls who disappeared seventeen years earlier, various Hudson Bay Company employees, and a woman living in a religious community. While reading, I was at first annoyed that the son's secret was glaringly obvio
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Nov 18, 2009
Marte
rated it:
My first review got entirely lost into the web ether so I'll just summarise this one:
* a lengthy book but quite quick to read
* enjoyable!
* good background research (I did spot a few mistakes, but mainly in the Norwegian bits)
* Norwegians! (I didn't know in advance!)
* the plot draws you in and the nature descriptions are spot-on (amazing for an agoraphobic!)
* a good murder mystery
Warmly recommended!
18 November 2009
I just re-r More...
* a lengthy book but quite quick to read
* enjoyable!
* good background research (I did spot a few mistakes, but mainly in the Norwegian bits)
* Norwegians! (I didn't know in advance!)
* the plot draws you in and the nature descriptions are spot-on (amazing for an agoraphobic!)
* a good murder mystery
Warmly recommended!
18 November 2009
I just re-r More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 08, 2011
Despite liking this book to begin with, I have ended finding it abit odd.
This is a typical Costa winner, as it is the kind of book you could imagine yourself sitting in a coffee shop reading for the day. It has a slow, relaxing style which makes it really easy to read. I also liked the change in person from chapter to chapter, with Mrs Ross' tale told in the first person, and the rest told as an onlooker. This helped make the book a nice easy and engagin read.
However, I found certain aspects o More...
This is a typical Costa winner, as it is the kind of book you could imagine yourself sitting in a coffee shop reading for the day. It has a slow, relaxing style which makes it really easy to read. I also liked the change in person from chapter to chapter, with Mrs Ross' tale told in the first person, and the rest told as an onlooker. This helped make the book a nice easy and engagin read.
However, I found certain aspects o More...
Feb 21, 2011
An engaging depiction of frontier life: "The Tenderness of Wolves" begins in the town of Caulfield, Ontario with the murder of a French trapper, Laurent Jammet, and the simultaneous disappearance of Mrs Ross's adopted son Francis. When officials from the Hudson Bay Company arrive to investigate, suspecting Francis to be the perpetrator, they send a party off in pursuit. They are soon followed by Mrs Ross, anxious to clear her son's name and track down the true murderer, heads off into
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Mar 11, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
Ice numbingly D-U-L-L. Perhaps I'm just not into the "cold-wilderness-1800-coming-together-of-different-cultures" novel. Actually, part of the problem may have been that it didn't read like a novel, but rather like a screenplay (the author's day job).
Regardless, a bunch of misaligned dreary social outcasts come together during a Canadian winter to figure out the gruesome murder of a rebel fur trapper. Lots of brooding and long hikes in the snow ensue. People track other pe More...
Regardless, a bunch of misaligned dreary social outcasts come together during a Canadian winter to figure out the gruesome murder of a rebel fur trapper. Lots of brooding and long hikes in the snow ensue. People track other pe More...
Nov 27, 2008
Tim
rated it:
"The Tenderness of Wolves" is very well-written, tells a compelling tale, has believable, interesting characters ... so why only three stars? Well, 3.5 would be more precise, but the novel suffers occasionally from being too rich, from having a character or two too many wandering around the Canadian wilderness. At one point it seems as though everyone in Canada is following each other along the same trail, seeking people who've left the scene after a murder, those who are following tho
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Jan 02, 2012
windy
rated it:
This historical murder mystery starts promisingly by setting up several fascinating characters (at least, they start out fascinating) and unravels towards the end. Several subplots and red herrings that end up going nowhere. Some characters have unusually modern ideas about native rights, women's position in society, sexual orientation, and maybe even wolves.
Ironically, one of my problems was that there's not enough of a sense of the snow and cold. The snow only seems to affect the c More...
Ironically, one of my problems was that there's not enough of a sense of the snow and cold. The snow only seems to affect the c More...
Aug 11, 2011
Janneke
rated it:
When my sister gave me The Tenderness of Wolves because she accidentally bought two copies I never guessed it holds such a wonderful story. The book is set in Canada in the winter of 1867 where Mrs Ross finds the dead body of her closets neighbour Laurent Jammet. This hunter of wolves and trader of furs was brutally scalped. Two tracks leaving the dead man's cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. But what worries Mrs Ross even more is that her 17- year old son Francis has dis
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Aug 03, 2011
Moray
rated it:
The hero of this novel is only ever referred to by two names: Mrs Ross, and Mama. In their brief moments together at the beginning of the novel, Angus Ross never speaks to his wife, and she does not have a single good friend who knows her well enough to address her by her first name. She is reserved, polite and, as a married woman in these stifled Scottish, Presbyterian, conclaves in 19th Century Canada, almost invisible: when a self-important local figure demands, ‘Is you husband in?’, she no
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May 11, 2011
Bruno
rated it:
1. Genre: Fiction, Mystery
2. Awards: The book of the year Costa award
3. I give it 5 stars.
4. Summary: Mrs.Ross find the dead body of Laurent Jammet. Company representatives are called to investigate the crime scene. Soon after Mrs.Ross realizes that her son Francis has been gone for a couple of days now. When the company finds out he is regarded as the prime suspect. Soon many people come to this little town, one of which is Mr.Sturrock an intelligent old man who is interested in More...
2. Awards: The book of the year Costa award
3. I give it 5 stars.
4. Summary: Mrs.Ross find the dead body of Laurent Jammet. Company representatives are called to investigate the crime scene. Soon after Mrs.Ross realizes that her son Francis has been gone for a couple of days now. When the company finds out he is regarded as the prime suspect. Soon many people come to this little town, one of which is Mr.Sturrock an intelligent old man who is interested in More...
May 04, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Set in nineteenth century Canada, The Tenderness Of Wolves is the story of how an isolated community is affected by the murder and scalping of one of their number, albeit a relative outsider. Suspicions quickly settle on Frances, the adopted son of two of the community's earliest settlers, who has disappeared.
Convinced of his innocence, Francis' mother sets off into the desolate wilderness in an attempt to discover the truth. In the process she uncovers the corrupt and ruthless dealings of More...
Convinced of his innocence, Francis' mother sets off into the desolate wilderness in an attempt to discover the truth. In the process she uncovers the corrupt and ruthless dealings of More...
Apr 14, 2011
Sally906
rated it:
During the winter of 1867, in the backwoods of Canada, Maria Ross finds the scalped body of independent fur trader Laurent Jammet. Maria has gone to Jammet’s cabin to discuss his relationship with her adopted son, Francis, who has gone missing. The Company men from nearby Fort Edgar arrive to investigate and soon a number of suspects are offered for the reader to think about. There is Francis, the missing boy; Parker, a Native American; and Thomas Sturrock, an east coast Yankee who claims that J
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Mar 17, 2011
Beth
rated it:
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny is a mystery that is very different from your usual mystery. That's why I read it.
The story takes place in Canada around the time of the U.S. Civil War, maybe a little before then. People from various parts of Europe have come there to brave the elements and live in a settlement together, all speaking English but with lots of different accents. A French trapper has been murdered, and the obvious suspect is a 17-year-old who has fled the settleme More...
The story takes place in Canada around the time of the U.S. Civil War, maybe a little before then. People from various parts of Europe have come there to brave the elements and live in a settlement together, all speaking English but with lots of different accents. A French trapper has been murdered, and the obvious suspect is a 17-year-old who has fled the settleme More...
Dec 29, 2010
Wu
rated it:
WM1: Per usare una frase a effetto si potrebbe dire che con il suo romanzo d'esordio La tenerezza dei lupi Stef Penney ha inventato un nuovo genere: il "Northern". Vale a dire la variante canadese del western, che sostituisce il deserto dell'Arizona con le distese nevose dell'Ontario.
Sponde settentrionali del Lago Huron, anno 1867. In un piccolo villaggio di coloni scozzesi si consuma un efferato omicidio. Nessun indizio, eccetto una scia di impronte sulla neve che si perde verso nor More...
Sponde settentrionali del Lago Huron, anno 1867. In un piccolo villaggio di coloni scozzesi si consuma un efferato omicidio. Nessun indizio, eccetto una scia di impronte sulla neve che si perde verso nor More...
Sep 02, 2010
Bernadette
rated it:
In 1867 in the small Canadian town of Caulfield a French trapper Laurent Jammet, is murdered. His body is discovered by a neighbour, Mrs Ross, whose own son Francis disappears at around the same time and some of the town’s inhabitants think he might have killed Jammet. However a friend of Jammet’s, a mixed-race trapper named Parker, is also suspected of the murder and is arrested. When Hudson’s Bay Company men are sent for to sort out the legalities they are unsure of who has committed the crime
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Aug 06, 2010
Nan
rated it:
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