The Tenderness of Wolves (tanabata's review)

by Stef Penney

Fiction/Mystery, 2006
Quercus, trade pb, 445 p.
WINNER of the Costa Book of the Year 2006, Longlist - Orange Prize 2007
Interview with the author

1867, Canada.
As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a woman steels herself for the journey of a lifetime. A man has been brutally murdered and her seventeen-year-old son has disappeared. The violence has re-opened old wounds and inflamed deep-running tensions in the frontier township – some want to solve the crime; others seek only to exploit it.
To clear her son’s name, she has no choice but to follow the tracks leaving the dead man’s cabin and head north into the forest and the desolate landscape that lies beyond it…

The quote on the back of my copy that calls it ‘a fascinating, suspense-filled adventure’ pretty much describes my thoughts on it as well. The historical aspects of the fur trade and pioneer life in northern Canada were very interesting. It wasn’t necessarily fast-paced and full of action but the murder mystery and the search for the perpetrator added suspense. And the fact that the search led them through such harsh terrain was certainly an adventure. A nicely told story with a large, varied cast of characters, it was actually the bitterly cold, snowy landscape, so vividly portrayed, that became the strongest element of the story for me. At it’s core, a mystery, but more than that too. All in all, a very enjoyable read.

Stef Penney talks about the novel:


My Rating: 4/5

*originally posted on my blog here.

How I Live Now (tanabata's review)

by Meg Rosoff

Fiction/YA, 2004
Wendy Lamb (Random House), hardback, 193 p.
WINNER Printz Award 2005, Orange Prize for New Writers NOMINEE 2005

“Every war has turning points and every person too.”

Fifteen–year–old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

It’s been quite a few days since I finished reading this and I’m still not entirely sure what my final thoughts on it are. Some parts felt unnecessary, others not fleshed out enough. Daisy was a strong character though, and even when her teen-speak and attitude annoyed me slightly, it always felt authentic (I can only assume, not being around any English-speaking teenagers these days). But somehow the war, which affects all their lives so profoundly, didn’t seem realistic, perhaps because the details were so vague or only alluded to. I suppose it really was mainly Daisy’s story of growing up during a difficult time. I did enjoy the book while I was reading it, especially the part with Daisy and Piper, but overall I don’t think it’ll stay with me. Still it was worth reading and I’d certainly try something else by Meg Rosoff sometime.

My Rating: 3/5

*originally posted on my blog here.

tanabata's progress list

I've had it as a half-formed idea to read the Orange Prize winners and the shortlisted books for a little while now so thanks to Wendy for creating this project and getting me to finally commit to reading more of them. In the list, the ones I've already read are highlighted in orange. Many of the ones I've already read were before I started blogging in January 2006 but a link to my review is included where available. Italicized titles are ones that I already own, so it'll most likely be those that I start with. List will be updated as I go along.

The Orange Prize for Fiction
2008
WINNER
The Road Home, by Rose Tremain

SHORTLIST
Fault Lines, by Nancy Huston
The Outcast, by Sadie Jones
When We Were Bad, by Charlotte Mendelson
Lullabies for Little Criminals, by Heather O’Neill
Lottery, by Patricia Wood

2007
WINNER
Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

SHORTLIST
Arlington Park, by Rachel Cusk
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, by Xiaolu Guo
The Observations, by Jane Harris
Digging to America, by Anne Tyler

LONGLIST
The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney (read June 2008)

2006
WINNER
On Beauty, by Zadie Smith

SHORTLIST
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss (read Nov. 2006- review)
Beyond Black, by Hilary Mantel
The Accidental, by Ali Smith
Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, by Carrie Tiffany
The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters

2005
WINNER
We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver (read Mar. 2006- review)

SHORTLIST
Old Filth, by Jane Gardam
The Mammoth Cheese, by Sheri Holman
Liars and Saints, by Maile Meloy
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka (read June 2005)

LONGLIST
Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
The Falls, by Joyce Carol Oates (read Nov. 2005)
The River, by Tricia Wastvedt (read Sep. 2007- review)

2004
WINNER
Small Island, by Andrea Levy (read Nov. 2004)

SHORTLIST
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood (read Sep. 2004)
The Great Fire, by Shirley Hazzard
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ice Road, by Gillian Slovo
The Colour, by Rose Tremain

LONGLIST
Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
The Electric Michelangelo, by Sarah Hall
Notes on a Scandal, by Zoe Heller (read May 2004)
The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri (read Sep. 2004)
A Visit from Voltaire, by Dinah Lee Kung
Gilgamesh, by Joan London (read June 2004)
Love, by Toni Morrison (read July 2004)
The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (read Aug. 2004)
The Amateur Marriage, by Anne Tyler (read Oct. 2004)

2003
WINNER
Property, by Valerie Martin

SHORTLIST
Buddha Da, by Anne Donovan
Heligoland, by Shena Mackay
Unless, by Carol Shields
The Autograph Man, by Zadie Smith
The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt

LONGLIST
Special, by Bella Bathhurst
Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
What I Loved, by Siri Hustvedt (read June 2003)
When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka
Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold (read Sep. 2002)

2002
WINNER
Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett(read Mar. 2004)

SHORTLIST
No Bones, by Anna Burns
The Siege, by Helen Dunmore (read Sep. 2002)
The White Family, by Maggie Gee
A Child's Book of True Crime, by Chloe Hooper
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters (read Nov. 2002)

LONGLIST
Five Quarters of an Orange, by Joanne Harris (read June 2002)
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk (read May 2002)
The Hero's Walk, by Anita Rau Badami (read before 2002*)

2001
WINNER
The Idea of Perfection, by Kate Grenville

SHORTLIST
The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood (read before 2002)
Fred & Edie, by Jill Dawson(read July 2004)
Hotel World, by Ali Smith (read May 2003)
Homestead, by Rosina Lippi
Horse Heaven, by Jane Smiley

LONGLIST
The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan (read before 2002)

2000
WINNER
When I Lived in Modern Times, by Linda Grant

SHORTLIST
If I Told You Once, by Judy Budnitz
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
The Dancers Dancing, by Eilis Ni Dhuibhne
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith (read May 2007- review)

LONGLIST
Girl With A Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier (read Oct. 2003)
Everything You Need, by A.L. Kennedy
What the Body Remembers, by Shauna Singh Baldwin

1999
WINNER
A Crime in the Neighborhood, by Suzanne Berne

SHORTLIST
The Short History of a Prince, by Jane Hamilton
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver (read July 2005)
Paradise, by Toni Morrison
The Leper's Companions, by Julia Blackburn
Visible Worlds, by Marilyn Bowering

LONGLIST
Master Georgie, by Beryl Bainbridge (read Aug. 2004)
Comfort Woman, by Nora Okja Keller (read Apr. 2007- review)

1998
WINNER
Larry's Party, by Carol Shield

SHORTLIST
Lives of the Monster Dogs, by Kirsten Bakis
The Ventriloquist's Tale, by Pauline Melville
The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett
Love Like Hate Adore, by Deirdre Purcell
The Weight of Water, by Anita Shreve (read before 2002)

1997
WINNER
Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels

SHORTLIST
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood (read before 2002)
One by One in the Darkness, by Deirdre Madden
Accordion Crimes, by E. Annie Proulx
Hen's Teeth, by Manda Scott
I Was Amelia Earhart, by Jane Mendelsohn

LONGLIST
The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, by Siri Hustvedt (read May 2004)
Fall On Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald (read Aug. 2002)

1996
WINNER
A Spell of Winter, by Helen Dunmore

SHORTLIST
The Book of Colour, by Julia Blackburn
Spinsters, by Pagan Kennedy
The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan (read before 2002)
Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler
Eveless Eden, by Marianne Wiggins

The Orange Prize for New Writers
2008
Inglorious, by Joanna Kayenna – WINNER
The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff
The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, by Lauren Liebenberg

2007
The Lizard Cage, by Karen Connelly - WINNER
Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allan
Bitter Sweets, by Roopa Farooki

2006
Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman - WINNER
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, by Yiyun Li
The Dream Life of Sukhanov, by Olga Grushin

2005
26a, by Diana Evans - WINNER
Lucky Girls, by Nell Freudenberger
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff (read May 2008- review)

*I started keeping track of my reads in 2002.