Synopses & Reviews
A panoramic epic, a magnificent piece of storytelling, an unforgettable debut novel.
As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Canada's Dove River in 1867, a man is brutally murdered and a 17-year-old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead man's cabin head north toward the forest and the tundra beyond.
In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township journalists, Hudson Bay Company men, trappers, tradersbut do they want to solve the crime or exploit it? One-by-one the assembled searchers set out from Dove River, pursuing the tracks across a desolate landscape home only to wild animals, madmen, and fugitives, variously seeking a murderer, a son, two missing sisters, a forgotten Native culture, and a fortune in stolen furs.
In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney weaves adventure, suspense, revelation, and humour into a gripping historical tale, an exhilarating thriller, a keen murder mystery, and ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, one of the best books of the year.
Review
"Stef Penney's debut is written with wicked clarity and beauty. Part mystery, part historical drama, The Tenderness of Wolves is a tale as crisp and driven as Georgian Bay snow. One of the most assured and memorable debuts I've had the fortune to read." Joseph Boyden, author of Three Day Road
Review
"A richly detailed mystery that brings the isolation of the Canadian North vividly to life....Stef Penney is clearly a talented writer." Quill & Quire
About the Author
Stef Penney was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She has written and directed two short films. The Tenderness of Wolves is her first novel.