Tell the Wolves I'm Home : Carol Rifka Brunt

Image Credit : Pan Macmillan

I picked up Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt after reading the rave reviews online, and on Amazon. I usually end up watching movies that no one has ever heard of, and that certainly means I can have great conversations at parties, right? ;-O And the same goes for books. I pick up books that are well, eclectic. This year though, I am trying to change. I still watch movies that no one has heard of though. But I am trying to read books that are readable. No more of that dull, depressing stuff. Well, think again. Tell the Wolves I'm Home is about dealing with grief. Erm. See. I tried.

Let's bear in mind that there is something incredibly complex about this book. And it's not just the 14-year old narrator who seems to speak beyond her years. Dealing with AIDS. Teenage love. Sibling relationships. Parental issues. There is much here. But there is an understated elegance to Carol Rifka. There were moments that she fairly took my breath away with the clarity of her writing. First things first though:

1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

At Finn’s funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.

As a narrator, I can't fault June. But she can't be 14-years old. No. To me, it's an older, more mature voice.  There is much wisdom in what she speaks. Yet, I found the languid pace of the novel a bit too tepid for my taste. I just WISH that it could have moved a little faster. I wanted to know more about Finn, but I didn't. I wanted to know more about his 'lover' Toby, but I didn't. And I wanted to know more about Greta, June's sister, but I didn't. There were little fragments, beautiful fragments nevertheless, but incomplete. But perhaps that's how people are and life is. It's just me who wants to know everything.

Much of the book resonates with grief. Finn is a character who dominates in his absence. Yet, also beautiful was the slow and poignant friendship between June and Toby. But of more interest to me was the layered and textured relationship between June and Greta. That was the fiery one - the one that coiled itself within the walls of familial relationships. And June and Toby's was the hidden embers - the curled wisps of a fated relationship. You might wonder after all this - what happens? Well, nothing I can say that is dramatic. We have death. A painting. Relationships. And issues. Many of these issues don't resolve themselves in the end. But then again, I don't think we need those gift-wrapped solutions.

Favorite quotes. (I thought I had more but I can't find them anymore in the book. Reminds me to read books with little stick-on notes or something. Otherwise how else do we find passages we like?)

"That's the secret. If you always make sure you're exactly the person you hoped to be, if you always make sure you know only the very best people, then you won't care if you die tomorrow."

  This quote below, I so agree with.

Why couldn't people live together, spend their whole lives together, just because they liked each other's company? Just because they liked each other more than they liked anyone else in the whole world? If you found a person like that you wouldn't have to have sex. You could just hold them, couldn't you? You could sit close to them, nestle into them so you could hear the machine of them churning away. You could press your ear against that person's back, listening to the rhythm of them, knowing that you were both made of the same exact stuff. You could do things like that. 

Verdict : Read this book as it's rated one of the best this year. For a debut, it's striking. If only the pace was a little bit faster. 

Rating : 3/5