SOLVED. One scene in novel: a man throws his new bride to wolves to save self [s]

[Ann]

out in some frozen waste. This is just the experience of some ancillary character. I always think it might be part of Frankenstein? Or a Russian book?

[Lisa]

The Painted Drum has a similar section:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57...

[Christy]

Sounds very much like a story that a character tells in My Antonia by Willa Cather. The groom isn't the one to throw the bride out though. Someone tells the groom that they should lighten the sledge by throwing her out and of course he refuses. It ends up that both bride and groom are thrown out.

Go to books.google.com and find My Antonia, then type in "wolves" in the Search feature and you'll be able to view the pages that contain this story and confirm whether it's the one you remember.

[Cassiel]

Good call Christy; I knew I had read this also, but so long ago...I was thinking it could have been in a story by Poe.

[Ann]

Thank you! Yes, that is it! I have been wondering forever.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

So weird, I had a sudden memory of reading this same passage and could not remember where I had read it. At first I thought it might be The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe - there's a part of the book where R.C. is in Siberia or the steppe or something, and the wolves are threatening them. I was about to post it here but I kept googling and found it in My Antonia. It's a story within a story.