From the award-winning author of The Electric Michelangelo, one of the most decorated young British writers working today, comes a literary masterpiece: a breathtaking work that beautifully and provocatively surveys the frontiers of the human spirit and our animal drives.For almost a decade, zoologist Rachel Caine has lived a solitary existence far from her estranged family in England, monitoring … England, monitoring wolves in a remote section of Idaho as part of a wildlife recovery program. But a surprising phone call takes her back to the peat and wet light of the Lake District where she grew up. The eccentric Earl of Annerdale has a controversial scheme to reintroduce the Grey Wolf to the English countryside, and he wants Rachel to spearhead the project. Though she’s skeptical, the earl’s lands are close to the village where she grew up, and where her aging mother now lives.
While the earl’s plan harks back to an ancient idyll of untamed British wilderness, Rachel must contend with modern-day realities—health and safety issues, public anger and fear, cynical political interests. But the return of the Grey unexpectedly sparks her own regeneration.
Exploring the fundamental nature of wilderness and wildness, The Wolf Border illuminates both our animal nature and humanity: sex, love, conflict, and the desire to find answers to the question of our existence—the emotions, desires, and needs that rule our lives.
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Set in the western US on Tribal Nation Lands and in the English country-side, a wildlife biologist who specializes in wolves returns home to England to lead a wolf reintroduction program funded by a wealthy landowner. The move had the added benefit of helping her to escape messy personal decisions she’s made for herself in the States. But she exchanges one set of problems for another when confronted with her mother’s and brother’s unhappiness with her and realizes these wolves may not end up having as wild a life as she was lead to believe.
A well-written and enjoyable read with a main female character who is real and flawed and strong.
Just could not get into this book after a couple tries:( Bored, and went on to something else to read
I loved everything about this book. Read it!
This is a fascinating book that details the habits of wolves. The parallels between the heroine and the wolves is most interesting as well as the concept of “borders”. This was a good read, difficult at first to enter into the third person narrative, but well worth the effort.
This is a fictional account about a woman named Rachel who is an expert of the grey wolf. She currently is working on a reserve in Idaho. She receives an invitation from the Earl of Annerdale to introduce wolves on his estate in England. Rachel came from England and the estate is close to where she grew up. When she accepts the job she quickly finds out there is a lot of controversy and politics she must deal with. There is some profanity.
Loved this original book about introducing a predator into England. But above and beyond that were the building of the characters. A must read.
This is a somewhat offbeat novel with a particularly interesting heroine who’s an expert in returning wolves to the wild. So right there it’s an unusual story. She returns from Idaho to her home in the countryside of the English Lake District.
There are great characters, wonderful writing and deep observations of nature and human nature . Very well written, captivating and even suspenseful as the story unfolds. A baby is born and grows to about a year old in the course of the book, and Sarah Hall’s descriptions of the baby’s consciousness and state of mind are really terrific.
This book is a great surprise which I’ve been recommending to everyone.
Outstanding novel
It was a slow start, takes some time to adjust to the writing style and settle in. I was still unsure for at least 50 pages but am so glad I stayed with it. One of the best books I’ve read in several years and not one I am likely to forget. Ethical questions prevail for one like me who worships nature and the freedom of her inhabitants.
Wonderful.
No one writes with more clarity and precision than Sarah Hall. She breathes life into her characters and landscapes in a way that another author can only envy. I’ve been a fan since I picked up The Electric Michaelangelo, and if I’ve been slow to catch up with this latest of her novels it’s been due purely to my own apprehension — narratives of wolves in the modern world can so often involve elements of cruelty and mistreatment that are hard to witness. But I needn’t have worried. As the bookseller confided as I handed over my money, “It’s not just about the wolves”… and it’s not that kind of story. Newly pregnant singleton Rachel Caine takes on the job of establishing a breeding pair of undomesticated wolves on a vast private estate in the Lake District. In the process she finds herself reconnecting with her Cumbrian roots and her estranged family, while changes in her body are reflected in her sense of self and feelings about her future. There’s an implied affinity with the progress of the wolves in the breeding program, but it’s never overplayed. Sarah Hall rearranges recent history much as she rearranges small details of the Cumbrian landscape to create Rachel’s world; this is a scenario in which Scottish independence is newly-achieved and the kingdom is no longer united. It’s a present-tense narrative with unpunctuated dialogue, both used here subtly and to great effect. The tone is always sure; I found it a terrific read.