Empire of Wild
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4.3 • 31 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
INDIGO'S #1 BEST BOOK OF 2019
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MARROW THIEVES, THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER, MULTI-AWARD WINNER AND CANADA READS FINALIST
"Wildly entertaining and profound and essential." --Tommy Orange, The New York Times
Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year--ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One hung-over morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher. By the time she staggers into the tent the service is over, but as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.
She turns, and there is Victor. Only he insists he is not Victor, but the Reverend Eugene Wolff, on a mission to bring his people to Jesus. And he doesn't seem to be faking: there isn't even a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
With only two allies--her odd, Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, and Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with deep knowledge of the old ways--Joan sets out to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor, his life, and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon her success.
Inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou--a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities--Cherie Dimaline has created a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Cherie Dimaline—the author of 2017’s dystopian blockbuster The Marrow Thieves—has created a brilliant mix of indigenous folklore, ominous fairy-tale enchantment, and twisted romance. Empire of Wild takes us on a mysterious quest with a woman named Joan, who’s trying to track down her vanished husband. In the course of her journey, she ends up at a revival meeting in Central Ontario and, seemingly, in the clutches of a cult. Dimaline brings in elements of The Wizard of Oz and “Little Red Riding Hood”, but it’s her nod to real-life colonialist history (particularly the legacy of Canada’s residential schools) that amplifies the haunting power of her novel. We were mesmerized start to finish.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dimaline's inventive, passionate quest narrative (after her YA novel The Marrow Thieves) draws on the M tis myth of a werewolflike creature known as Rogarou. In the predominantly Catholic First Nations community of Arcand, Ontario, tales of the Rogarou haunt the town's inhabitants ("Broke Lent? The rogarou will come for you"). After Joan Beausoleil argues one night with her husband, Victor, over whether she should sell her ancestral land, Victor walks out and never comes back, and Joan spends nearly a year searching for him. Dimaline wrenchingly describes Joan's rabid determination, and conveys the passion of their early relationship. Just as Joan is about to give up hope, she recognizes Victor in a revival tent at a WalMart parking lot, but he claims not to know her and to be Rev. Eugene Wolff. Shocked and angry at being told that she's mistaken, Joan sets out to discover what happened to him. Aided by her 12-year-old nephew and an elder who convinces Joan that Victor is under the spell of the Rogarou, Joan tracks the beast in search of answers. The novel is at times sad, at times humorous, and at times terrifying. Smartly written with believable characters, a tight plot, and breathtaking sentences, this is a must-read literary thriller.
