History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

I had to read a book published in 2017 for my Popsugar Reading Challenge this year, so I picked up Emily Fridlund's History of Wolves at the bookstore a few weeks ago. I was drawn to this novel because of the interesting title and haunting cover design. When I noticed that one of the blurbs on the back called the book an "atmospheric, near-gothic coming-of-age novel," I was sold. I brought it along on a trip to Orlando, and devoured it in a few sittings in my hotel room.

The story is about a teenage girl named Linda, who lives in a very isolated spot in the Minnesota woods with her parents. Her parents are the last remaining members of a failed commune, and the small family lives alone in the space that the community used to occupy. They live mostly off the land, hunting, fishing, and gardening to support themselves. Despite their best efforts, they live in serious poverty and Linda is viewed as the "dirty hippie" at school. Shunned by her peers and living an odd and isolating life at home, Linda is lonely and anxious for companionship. She flirts inappropriately with a shady male teacher at her school, but he is convicted on child pornography charges before anything real develops between them. This incident affects Linda deeply as this "relationship" had become somewhat of a fixation for her. To have it yanked away relegates her back into her intense loneliness.

As the school year ends and summer vacation begins, a new family moves into a cabin across the river from Linda's family. Eager to experience a sense of normalcy, Linda hangs around the family and they eventually welcome her into their home as a babysitter. She spends her summer afternoons watching four-your-old Paul while his mother and father work. For the first time in her life, Linda enjoys living as a "normal" kid, but things begin to take a turn as the days wear on. The family she has come to love and rely on are guarding some strange beliefs and secrets that are quickly becoming dangerous to little Paul. However, if she reaches out to others for help, she will lose the family forever. Her internal struggle over what to do leads her to confront some scary truths about what can lie under the surface of relationships, and how the predator/prey dynamic can function in a family.

This novel was beautiful, dark, and full of layered meaning. Fridlund's sparse writing style and quiet imagery was very successful at making the reader feel alone in the woods alongside Linda. This sense of isolation helped to lay a weight on the events of the story; it made everything feel cold and heavy. As the tension in the plot builds, this heaviness becomes more and more intense. Reading this novel is truly a sensory experience. It's one of those stories that gives you a book hangover. I was in a gloomy and thoughtful fog for a few days after reading. 

The title, History of Wolves, refers to how the idea predators and prey can manifest in people. Identifying which is which in this story is not always obvious or consistent. At times, Linda is the predator, insinuating herself into people's lives out of a sense of her loneliness. At other times, she is the prey, falling victim to the charisma and control of other characters. Her journey is a twisted and dark one, with her unusual and isolated upbringing clouding her sense of judgement. It was a fascinating and complicated story.

Indeed, what struck me the most about History of Wolves was the complexity. Everything from the characters to the language to the themes felt deep and mysterious. I don't think that one reading would be enough to catch all of the meaning and symbolism that Fridlund wove into this story. To further complicate the plot, Linda's narration bounced forward and backward through time. Vague references to death and an eventual court trial are peppered throughout the pages, giving a powerful sense of foreboding to the reader. I raced through this novel because I was so anxious to fill in all the missing details of that summer, and to see how everything ended up.

This is Emily Fridlund's first novel, and it's a truly special debut. I will be looking forward to reading more of her work in the future. Since I always have a TBR pile a mile deep, I often miss out on reading books close to their publication date. Without the Popsugar challenge forcing me to seek out something published this year, I would not have picked this one up, and I would have really been missing out. Reading an author's first novel right when it is released is kind of exciting, and is something I'm going to make more of an effort to do in the future.


Challenge Tally
Popsugar Challenge: (A book published in 2017) 18/40