• History of Wolves

  • A Novel
  • By: Emily Fridlund
  • Narrated by: Susan Bennett
  • Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (422 ratings)

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History of Wolves  By  cover art

History of Wolves

By: Emily Fridlund
Narrated by: Susan Bennett
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Publisher's summary

Fourteen-year-old Linda lives with her parents in the beautiful, austere woods of Northern Minnesota, where their nearly abandoned commune stands as a last vestige of a lost counterculture world. Isolated at home and an outlander at school, Linda is drawn to the enigmatic, attractive Lily and new history teacher Mr. Grierson. When Mr. Grierson is charged with possessing child pornography, the implications of his arrest deeply affect Linda as she wrestles with her own fledgling desires and craving to belong. And then the young Gardner family moves in across the lake, and Linda finds herself welcomed into their home as a babysitter for their little boy, Paul. It seems that her life finally has purpose, but with this new sense of belonging she is also drawn into secrets she doesn't understand. Over the course of a few days, Linda makes a set of choices that reverberate throughout her life. As she struggles to find a way out of the sequestered world into which she was born, Linda confronts the life-and-death consequences of the things people do - and fail to do - for the people they love.

Winner of the McGinnis-Ritchie award for its first chapter, Emily Fridlund's propulsive and gorgeously written History of Wolves introduces a new writer of enormous range and talent.

©2017 Emily Fridlund (P)2017 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"So delicately calibrated and precisely beautiful that one might not immediately sense the sledgehammer of pain building inside this book. And I mean that in the best way. What powerful tension and depth this provides!" (Aimee Bender)

What listeners say about History of Wolves

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Baffled

Couldn't put this down- for most of it. Very well written, amazing prose, and excellent narration. Had to keep listening since I really wanted to know what happened next. I felt I knew these people. Extremely frustrating and disappointing ending. Unfortunately after writing this very good story, the author voided the positive attributes by completely ruining the end.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Huh????

What did I just read? Madeline/Linda made 2-3 sets of tracks in the snow and none of them ended up at the same destination. What did the Mr. Grierson/Lilly story have to do with the Patra/Leo/Paul story? The writing here was very good, but I think the point of this story ended up abandoned on a canoe in the middle of the lake. Who knows, maybe that was the point? Grrrr... The setting and characterization of Madeline/Linda meshed very well and conveyed a deep sense of loneliness. I'm sure there's symbolism just below the surface that I'm just plain missing.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Ummm

Not good, not bad....weird. Didn't make much sense. Pretty lame ending, if you call it a ending.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A complete bore

This story took a long, convoluted way to come to it's premise. I didn't find it plausible because of the age of the main character and I found that there were a lot of holes in the story, information I needed to complete it for me. It dragged on incessantly and the conclusion was very disappointing. The narrator did an excellent job but the material and was very boring.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Terrific Drama

Loved a fictional return to my birth state of Minnesota. I enjoyed the main character a great deal. She seemed very believable and her reactions to the events in her life were spot on. If you want a happily ever after story however, this is not for you.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible

There was absolutely no point to this book. there were so many unneeded details, the author just rambled about nothing the enitrie time. I kept thinking something was about to happen but NOTHING ever did! I can't believe I wasted so much time on this!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Hard to Care

I tried hard to like this book, thinking it would get better as it moved along. Alas, I have given up my listen after a couple of hours in. The protagonist did not engage me, the story lost me and I wasted the money/credit I spent on this.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Slow sad story

This story really dragged on for me. It felt like a short story made long with side stories that didn't fit and details that are repetitive,

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

This book seemed to wander every which way. No real focus. Very disappointing ending. Don't waste your time

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Don't understand the hype

The author is a decent writer and there are some sentences that are lovely. But the story is so drawn out it made me not care about what happened or anyone in it. Most of the characters are pretty one-dimensional, and annoying to boot. The narrator is excellent.

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1 person found this helpful