Now and then you come across a writer with a talent that is so unique, and so idiosyncranatic that they can ignore most of the "rules" that apply to a good work of fiction and still turn out a work that is worth reading. Sister Wolf is that kind of book, and Ann Arensberg is that kind of author. It's a short novel, full of contradictions and shifts of mood and pace, but still manages to have a coherent narrative, and a consistent compelling voice. It's the story of Merit Deym, an heiress of Hungarian aristocracy who lives on a thousand miles of Berkshire Hills wilderness. Bright and attractive, but uncomfortable around most people Merit feels most at ease with the wild animals, bears and wolves included, that she allows to live on her unofficial preserve. She has one real friend, Lola Brevard, a breezy socialite who juggles her open social calendar with a secret life as a lesbian with a taste for coltish tomboys. There is also one man in her life, Gabriel Frankman, hot-tempered as a youth who has since wrapped himself in a blanket of asceticism and become a teacher of blind children at an exclusive academy not far from the Deym estate. It would not be too far off of the mark to say that the rest of the story is just watching these three characters interact for a month or so, until a series of misunderstandings escalate into tragedy. It would also be a bit simplistic. What Ms. Arensberg does that is so original that I alluded to in the first paragraph is that the majority of the narrative in this book could be called back-story. She shows and tells us these, and several other well-drawn minor characters, stories until the present day, and then with about twenty percent of the book left, the rest of the tale unfolds. Admittedly the stuff that does happen is amongst the most sensational in a novel filled with byzantine twists and strange, complex individuals. The reason that this works in this case is that Ms. Arensberg is a writer that knows how to make prose sing, so that while basically filling us in on the past lives of these people it is never less than fascinating. The only thing that keeps me from labeling this a five-star book is that most of the characters in this book are particularly difficult to like or empathize with, and while that is not a prerequisite, it certainly does help the medicine go down a bit smoother. The only one I felt and degree of sympathy with, until near the end, was Lola, who was a ray of sunshine amidst a group of gloomy Guses caught up in the middle of a Gothic nightmare. Yet for the majority of this book I was held in thrall, and that says quite a bit for the talent of Ms. Arensberg, and quite a bit for this special novel.Review by: Mark Palm
I'm not sure why this book left me so cold. The plot sounds interesting...a cold, loner of a former aristocrat, who bonds better with animals than people, falls in love with a perpetually guilty teacher of blind children from the school next door to her estate. Of course, as it is a modern novel, it all ends tragically. I guess, to me, the characters were not very well developed. SPOILER FOLLOWS: It seems unlikely that the heroine, as indepedent, angry and hateful as she was, would care enough for this man she met on a casual fling, to destroy herself for him. One of my tests for modern novelists is: is there any character in the book I'd like to have coffee with? Sadly, no.
Do You like book Sister Wolf (2000)?
This is a rich and complex short novel of contrasts: of innocence and guilt; of care and revenge; of what most think of as ‘wild’ and what most think of as ‘civilized’; of natives and outsiders and so much more.Both Marit Deym, second generation Hungarian and inheritor of her family’s estate in the Berkshires and Gabriel Frankman, a teacher at a nearby school of the blind are outsiders and have intentionally set themselves apart from the mainstream of village life; both have assumed responsibilities for the care of the helpless – wild wolves and bears, along with other smaller wild animals and blind children. Both have been celibate for years - that is until one night Gabriel, lost in Marit’s wildlife preserve, is herded by her wolves to her home and her side.A novel of contrasting relationships SISTER WOLF is a haunting novel that raises questions about our assumptions of others and our care for one another.
—Bill
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.The Berkshires is one of my favorite places and the setting was one reason I picked up the novel. I enjoyed the beginning of the book. The character of Gabriel who seemed to define himself by being subsumed by other characters, identifying his own goodness by allowing the needs of others to overwhelm and define him as a good person, was well crafted. The outline of Marit brings to life a woman who was not defined by other people, but by her devotion to her animals. Combining these two characters never really worked in the novel.I could not see that Marit or Gabriel had any basic attraction for one another. Perhaps that is why the relationship never worked. The course of the novel made no sense to me. I would have liked to see further development of Marit as the main character and to have her life and struggles with the sanctuary become the focus.
—Maureen Tumenas
The 1981 National Book Award winner and well worth reading for its intricate character development and general intelligence (or cerebrality is that a word?). I found it over-stuffed, though, as if Arensberg poured half a life's ideas into this small container when she should have been writing dozens of novels. (She went on to publish two more: Group Sex and the amazing Incubus). From the NBa page:Ann Arensberg’s writing career began when she was thirty-nine. Her first published story, “Art History,” appeared in Antaeus and won an O. Henry Prize. The story caught the eye of Alice Quinn, then an editor at Knopf. Quinn told Arensberg that if she ever wrote a novel, she should send it to Knopf. Five years later Arensberg finished Sister Wolf. And Lauren Cerand on rediscovering this novel:http://www.nbafictionblog.org/nba-win...
—Holly
