The House of the Wolf by Alison Baird

The Synopsis:

In the barren arctic, a white wolf journeys alone across the tundra. All his life he has dreamed of the strange creatures called humans that dwell in vast numbers far to the south–creatures which wolf lore says have an ancient and mystical kinship with his own species. Abandoning his pack, he sets out to make contact with the human beings and learn the truth…
In the state of Vermont, a young girl embarks on her own journey of self-discovery. Eighteen-year-old Chantal Boisvert never knew her parents, and she if determined to know more about them–especially her French Canadian father, who died in mysterious circumstances. When she arrives in the province of Quebec, the wealthy Boisvert family gives Chantal a seemingly warm and loving welcome. But then strange and sinister things start to happen.
Why do her relatives slip away into the forest after sundown? Why does she keep dreaming at night of being a wolf running in the wild? Who is the attractive pale-haired boy who keeps turning up, and why do he and his friends seem so concerned for her safety? Could it possibly be true that the Boisverts are loups garous–werewolves?

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

I’ve done it! I’ve found a werewolf story that didn’t revolve around passionate, sexual tension!

Werewolves have always been at the center of my curiosity and fascination. I love a good werewolf story because of the dynamics one must encounter with a werewolf character. It’s a battle of morality–between animal and human, wild and tame– and understanding where one must draw the line between such natures, which is often a very blurred and gray line.

The House of the Wolf is a story that seemed to focus solely on that dynamic of morality in its characters. Each character is included in the story to show a different aspect of morality–in which you have the sweet Raoul, who is every bit as intent on doing what is right, regardless of his form. To the complete opposite end of the spectrum with characters who have disregarded right from wrong completely– consumed with what they desire alone. And so many characters in between.

The story is not intense or gory, but rather one that reminded me of something Jack London would write–a story using fictitious aspects to reflect some of life’s greater issues. Like one’s identity, morality, destiny, and even environmental concepts and questions. It also includes LOTS of folklore and mythical histories that began in Canada, so if you plan to write a Werewolf story of your own, this book would be excellent to add to your research stack.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed reading it. I wouldn’t say that I love it, simply because there were a lot of slow spots that I would skim over and the story did have a tendency to lag after time, but it did keep my attention. As I mentioned earlier, there was ABSOLUTELY NO SEXUAL PLOT (only a few mentions of “breeding”, but no details) and frankly that made me over-the-moon-happy! There is no cursing present either!

So overall, The House of the Wolf is a book that I am glad I picked up, though I would have enjoyed it more if there had been a few more action scenes scattered throughout to keep the story from lagging. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.