The Wolf Border

By: Sarah Hall

Narrated by: Louise Brealey

For almost a decade, Rachel Caine has turned her back on home, kept distant by family disputes and her work monitoring wolves on an Idaho reservation. But now, summoned by the eccentric Earl of Annerdale and his controversial scheme to reintroduce the grey wolf to the English countryside, she is back in the peat and wet light of the Lake District.

The earl's project harks back to an ancient idyll of untamed British wilderness - though Rachel must contend with modern-day concessions to health and safety, public outrage, and political gain - and the return of the grey after hundreds of years coincides with her own regeneration: impending motherhood,and reconciliation with her estranged family.

The Wolf Border investigates the fundamental nature of wilderness and wildness, both animal and human. It seeks to understand the most obsessive aspects of humanity: sex, love, and conflict; the desire to find answers to the question of our existence; those complex systems that govern the most superior creature on Earth.

©2014 Sarah Hall (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"What an achievement – so vivid, so visceral, so vital. I can see the wolves and the characters in the landscape like a movie in my head. Every time I picked it up, I struggled to put it down again. It’s a beautiful construction." (Val McDermid)

Marvelous.

Loved it. Such crisp, precise writing and nuanced characters. The description and understanding of the landscape put me in mind of Robert MacFarlane.
I look forward to reading more of Sarah Hall's books.
The narration was a perfect fit for the tone of the narrative and consideration of it's characters.

Beautifully written with rich detail, and beautifully read

Such a unique and interesting story, a gem of a discovery. Enjoyed it all, from beginning to end.

Slow and Steady

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I bought this audiobook because I loved Louise Brealey's narration in The Girl on the Train and How to Build a Girl. I loved Louise's performance in this, too-- I think she handled all of the characters' various accents very well, and she has a lovely voice to listen to for thirteen hours of commuting.

Sarah Hall is a talented stylist, but I found this book to be very slow. I stopped around 5 hours in, and came back to it several months later, to be honest. There is an excessive amount of description. When action happens, it is well-executed and suspenseful. But Hall chooses to exercise that side of her talent pretty rarely. Often it feels like a 19th century novel, just following the cast around in their lives for stretches at a time.

Have you listened to any of Louise Brealey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love Louise. I'll buy anything she narrates.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably, yes.

Delightful Realism

Any additional comments?

The author's exposition of her hero's emotional reality is delicious. Every description is poignant and precise. The painting is exact and satisfying. Rachel's relationship with the wolves, her son, her mother and her brother are beautifully told. This is the best book I've listened to this year.

Narrator made me give up on it.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Every character sounds like the same teenager. Her voice is far too young in pitch, tone and inflection, and completely lacking in versatility. Sorry, but in an audiobook, the narrator makes or breaks the experience and in this case I just couldn't listen to everyone sounding exactly the same, so I gave up.