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Title details for Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback - Available

Wolf Winter

by Cecilia Ekback
Alyssa Bresnahan
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms BlackAsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow. While herding the family's goats on the mountain, Frederika happens upon the mutilated body of one of their neighbors, Eriksson. The death is dismissed as a wolf attack, but Maija feels certain that the wounds could only have been inflicted by another man. Compelled to investigate despite her neighbors' strange disinterest in the death and the fate of Eriksson's widow, Maija is drawn into the dark history of tragedies and betrayals that have taken place on BlackAsen. Young Frederika finds herself pulled towards the mountain as well, feeling something none of the adults around her seem to notice. As the seasons change, and the "wolf winter," the harshest winter in memory, descends upon the settlers, Paavo travels to find work, and Maija finds herself struggling for her family's survival in this land of winter-long darkness. As the snow gathers, the settlers' secrets are increasingly laid bare. Scarce resources and the never-ending darkness force them to come together, but Maija, not knowing who to trust and who may betray her, is determined to find the answers for herself. Soon, Maija discovers the true cost of survival under the mountain, and what it will take to make it to spring.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 27, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490631745
      • File size: 359086 KB
      • Duration: 12:28:05

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 10, 2014
      Set in 1717, Ekbäck’s diverting debut focuses on a Finnish family—Maija Harmaajärvi; 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. Ekbäck 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. Agents: Janelle Andrews and Rachel Mills, Peters, Fraser & Dunlop (U.K.).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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