By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: There are certain people who feel more comfortable in nature than with their fellow human beings. They develop a deep connection with animals that transcends typical human-animal contact. They prefer living inside a cabin in the woods or on a farm living off the land rather than in a duplex or apartment surrounded by people.
They may even feel a spiritual connection within their surroundings and a deep reverence that is almost religious.
Maggie Harrington is like that. The protagonist of D.J. Skwykert’s novel For The Love of Wolves has been surrounded by nature, specifically wolves, her whole life and she is sworn to protect her wolves at any cost. Maggie is the protagonist in a series of books and stories that explore her love of nature specifically the wolves around her northern Michigan town.
In fact she feels closer to wolves these days than humans. She lives alone in Central Mine in the mid-1940’s, a small town that has ceased to be since the closure of the local mine. Her husband, closest friend, and daughter are dead or gone and she lives alone in a ramshackle shack outside of what's left of the town.
Her most frequent visitor is Joseph Marquand, the young son of a local hunter who delivers meat her father prepares and shares her love of nature.
Since she lives alone, her case worker, Alice Hoffman, insists that she should live in public housing. One look at the dreary urban buildings with way too many inert medicated people tells Maggie that she has no interest in leaving the small community that she calls home.
Maggie feels a stronger closeness to animals to people, particularly wolves. She had a bond with wolves ever since she was 13, and she tried to defend them from being hunted. She had many wolf friends over the years. Her closest one is a majestic white wolf called Wolf that was given to her by her husband. Maggie then released Wolf to the wild but he was a frequent visitor to the kindly human. Now long after Wolf's passing, Maggie sees white tufts and hears the sound of paws and howling in the distance. Could she be receiving a visit from her lupine friend from Beyond?
Many of these books that herald closeness to nature have beautiful description in their setting. This book is no exception. The descriptions reveal Maggie's closeness to Central Mine and the wildlife that surrounds her. Maggie defends the wolves because she sees how similar they are to humans. She says about the rock piles around her house. “. It's as if the Earth has never been different, they have always been here, these huge stone monuments in honor of the miners who had torn them from the womb of the peninsula.” Like many who revere nature, Maggie feels that closeness to the natural world and wonder how much humanity has defaced it.
Maggie feels the strongest bond with wolves. She recognizes the humanity within them and wonders why humans don't see that. “Like good men, wolves defend their turf, protect that which allows their kin to survive, and love is essential, good husbands and wolves mate for life and protect their young. There is nothing as fierce as a she wolf or mother in defense of her children. What is there not to like about good wolves and good men? Yet for centuries, men have hunted these fine creatures, slaughtered them for a bounty into near extinction.”
Wolf is Maggie's closest friend. She considers him a kindred spirit and guide. She contemplated the reasons why he might be coming back now that she is alone. “I need (Wolf) at this moment to calm me. I need his quiet strength. I need to feel that there are things in life that remain unchanged.” In a world where town populations grow smaller, friends move away, loved ones die, and the world around her becomes less personal and more modernized, the wolves are the only creatures that are reliable. They are what they are: wild, free, calm, and independent. They are what Maggie wants to become.
Maggie's protectiveness for her wolves is understandable as it catapults her to extreme measures. She still grieves for wolves that were destroyed when she was younger and seeks vengeance on a hunter who killed them. Even if we don't necessarily agree with the extreme nature of her actions, we understand why Maggie does them. Her wolves are her siblings, her children, her best friends and she will defend them by any means.
Most writers would make her unreliable even delusional, but Swykert let's us know that she is a woman driven by her love of nature and her own laws in protecting it.
She comes across as an avenging angel or grief stricken mother striking on behalf of her children.
For the Love of Wolves Is a beautiful vivid meditation on a love of nature, animals, and the lengths people will go to protect it at any cost.
Spoilers: There are certain people who feel more comfortable in nature than with their fellow human beings. They develop a deep connection with animals that transcends typical human-animal contact. They prefer living inside a cabin in the woods or on a farm living off the land rather than in a duplex or apartment surrounded by people.
They may even feel a spiritual connection within their surroundings and a deep reverence that is almost religious.
Maggie Harrington is like that. The protagonist of D.J. Skwykert’s novel For The Love of Wolves has been surrounded by nature, specifically wolves, her whole life and she is sworn to protect her wolves at any cost. Maggie is the protagonist in a series of books and stories that explore her love of nature specifically the wolves around her northern Michigan town.
In fact she feels closer to wolves these days than humans. She lives alone in Central Mine in the mid-1940’s, a small town that has ceased to be since the closure of the local mine. Her husband, closest friend, and daughter are dead or gone and she lives alone in a ramshackle shack outside of what's left of the town.
Her most frequent visitor is Joseph Marquand, the young son of a local hunter who delivers meat her father prepares and shares her love of nature.
Since she lives alone, her case worker, Alice Hoffman, insists that she should live in public housing. One look at the dreary urban buildings with way too many inert medicated people tells Maggie that she has no interest in leaving the small community that she calls home.
Maggie feels a stronger closeness to animals to people, particularly wolves. She had a bond with wolves ever since she was 13, and she tried to defend them from being hunted. She had many wolf friends over the years. Her closest one is a majestic white wolf called Wolf that was given to her by her husband. Maggie then released Wolf to the wild but he was a frequent visitor to the kindly human. Now long after Wolf's passing, Maggie sees white tufts and hears the sound of paws and howling in the distance. Could she be receiving a visit from her lupine friend from Beyond?
Many of these books that herald closeness to nature have beautiful description in their setting. This book is no exception. The descriptions reveal Maggie's closeness to Central Mine and the wildlife that surrounds her. Maggie defends the wolves because she sees how similar they are to humans. She says about the rock piles around her house. “. It's as if the Earth has never been different, they have always been here, these huge stone monuments in honor of the miners who had torn them from the womb of the peninsula.” Like many who revere nature, Maggie feels that closeness to the natural world and wonder how much humanity has defaced it.
Maggie feels the strongest bond with wolves. She recognizes the humanity within them and wonders why humans don't see that. “Like good men, wolves defend their turf, protect that which allows their kin to survive, and love is essential, good husbands and wolves mate for life and protect their young. There is nothing as fierce as a she wolf or mother in defense of her children. What is there not to like about good wolves and good men? Yet for centuries, men have hunted these fine creatures, slaughtered them for a bounty into near extinction.”
Wolf is Maggie's closest friend. She considers him a kindred spirit and guide. She contemplated the reasons why he might be coming back now that she is alone. “I need (Wolf) at this moment to calm me. I need his quiet strength. I need to feel that there are things in life that remain unchanged.” In a world where town populations grow smaller, friends move away, loved ones die, and the world around her becomes less personal and more modernized, the wolves are the only creatures that are reliable. They are what they are: wild, free, calm, and independent. They are what Maggie wants to become.
Maggie's protectiveness for her wolves is understandable as it catapults her to extreme measures. She still grieves for wolves that were destroyed when she was younger and seeks vengeance on a hunter who killed them. Even if we don't necessarily agree with the extreme nature of her actions, we understand why Maggie does them. Her wolves are her siblings, her children, her best friends and she will defend them by any means.
Most writers would make her unreliable even delusional, but Swykert let's us know that she is a woman driven by her love of nature and her own laws in protecting it.
She comes across as an avenging angel or grief stricken mother striking on behalf of her children.
For the Love of Wolves Is a beautiful vivid meditation on a love of nature, animals, and the lengths people will go to protect it at any cost.
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