Wolf Winter
A Novel
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2.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband and their two daughters arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of the past and put down roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms Blackasen, a mountain whose dark history haunts the lives of those in its shadow.
While herding the family’s goats on the mountain, Maija’s elder daughter, Frederika, stumbles across the mutilated body of one of their neighbours, Eriksson. The community dismisses the death as a wolf attack, but Maija feels certain it was murder. Compelled to investigate despite her neighbours’ unconcern, Maija is drawn into the history of tragedies and betrayals that have taken place on Blackasen.
Meanwhile, young Frederika is pulled toward the mountain as well, feeling something no one around her seems to notice. The seasons change, and the harshest winter in memory—known as a “wolf winter”—descends upon them. Struggling to survive, the settlers are forced to come together, but Maija, not knowing whom to trust, is still determined to find answers. As the snow gathers, the settlers’ secrets are laid bare. Soon Maija will discover the true cost of survival under the mountain—and what it will take to make it to spring.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Swedish native Cecilia Ekbäck breathes new life into Scandinavian crime fiction with this beautifully written historical thriller, set in 18th-century Lapland. Spurred by her water-averse husband, Maija—a bold and loving Finnish woman—moves her family to the far north of Sweden to embark on a new life as homesteaders. But when her daughters stumble upon a man’s mutilated body while herding goats, Maija becomes determined to uncover the truth about her neighbour’s death, stumbling into a web of dark secrets and eerie goings-on. A haunting debut, Wolf Winter had us on edge from start to finish.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1717, Ekb ck's diverting debut focuses on a Finnish family Maija Harmaaj rvi; her husband, Paavo; and their daughters, 14-year-old Frederika and six-year-old Dorotea as they start a new life in Swedish Lapland. One day while herding goats, the girls discover a body. Their neighbors believe the dead man, Eriksson, was killed by wolves or a bear, but Maija is convinced that he was murdered and aims to prove it. Ekb ck does a good job depicting a terrifying snowstorm, the conflicting cultures of settlers and Lapps, and the endless winter darkness. But the novel also contains a disorienting mix of obsolete words and current phrasing, realistic glimpses of pioneer hardships, and far-fetched plot devices involving the local bishop and a pack of wolves that may or may not exist. Two resident ghosts Maija's grandmother, who constantly offers advice, and the reincarnated Eriksson, who prods Frederika to unearth his killer add to the incongruity.
