In glimpses of Linda’s adulthood, we also find that even in her sexual and romantic relationships she is still searching for intimacy.įridlund’s novel is compelling and deliberate. Grierson, who is later accused of possessing child pornography. She longs for the company of a beautiful classmate, Lily, and for her history teacher, Mr. She is isolated and lonely, often longing for intimacy with people just outside of her reach. The central conflict of History of Wolves is the death of Paul-a death which is known from the beginning of the novel-though Linda is plagued by more than his loss. She’s an outcast among outcasts in this small fishing town, and the reader vividly feels her discomfort with her place in the woods and among the townspeople. The child of a now defunct commune, Linda lives with two adults who might be her parents. History of Wolves is told in retrospective fragments, centering on the summer teenaged Linda babysits for a young mother, Patra Gardner, and her son Paul. In the woods of northern Minnesota, Linda embodies this character in unexpected ways. We know this girl, but Fridlund has brought her somewhere unfamiliar. Her loneliness permeates the book from all directions as her past and future constantly intermingle. In Emily Fridlund’s modern coming-of-age novel, she is wry, observant, and volatile in her search for intimacy. At the heart of History of Wolvesis that one dangerous, damaged teenage girl we all knew when we were growing up.
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