Wild Dogs

March 14, 2005
Six people stand at the edge of the woods, hoping to lure back their dogs who, released by family members who think they know best, have banded together and run wild. Similarly, the humans who once owned them form an unlikely bond, sharing both the loss of their beloved pets and fear of the people who had the power to send them away. Paying tribute to Faulkner, Canadian novelist Humphreys (The Lost Garden
; Afterimage
) tells her story from multiple points of view. The narrator of the first half of the book is Alice, who moves out of her boyfriend's home after he condemns her dog to life in the wild. In some of the stronger passages, Alice addresses her new lover, a wildlife biologist, in the second person; also effective is the well-rendered voice of Lily, the "idiot" of the bunch, who suffered brain damage as a result of a childhood accident with fire. Other voices are less distinct, and the surprise revelation of the wildlife biologist's identity will strike some readers as contrived. Concerned with philosophical notions of the innate wildness of humans and the nature of love, the text is plagued by the excessive use of rhetorical, existential questions, though Humphreys poignantly captures the uneasy camaraderie that can arise among strangers. Agent, Frances Hanna.

March 15, 2005
In this short novel, Canadian author Humphreys ("The Lost Garden") recounts an unusual story as haunting as it is succinct. Near a forest inhabited by a pack of domestic canines gone wild, a small group of people gathers nightly, trying to call back the feral animals. With little in common other than their losses, these companions attempt a sort of therapy, each taking a turn leading the others on walks they once enjoyed in company with their former pets. Alice, a young woman recently abandoned by both dog and boyfriend, forms strong bonds with two of the group, moving onto land owned by a failed artist and beginning an affair with a scientist who is an expert on wolves. When a venture into the woods goes very wrong, the outcome is a violent, shocking denouement, and Alice must revise more than one assumption about love and nature. A small book with big themes, narrated in controlled and lyrical language, this is recommended for most fiction collections. -Starr E. Smith, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2005
Every evening six lonely people stand in a field facing deep woods and call for their dogs, beloved pets that were run off by parents, spouses, or lovers. The town's only big employer, a furniture factory, has closed, and the men are drinking too much and taking their anger out on their women, kids, and dogs. The resourceful canines have formed a pack and gone wild, but their six grieving and plaintive humans maintain their vigil nonetheless. There's sad and contemplative Alice, the novel's primary narrator; skateboarder Jamie, whose stepfather beats him; gentle, mentally deficient Lily; Malcolm, an eccentric, possibly dangerous recluse; Walter the hypochondriac; and a wolf specialist, with whom Alice falls in love. Told from various points of view, this evocative, unpredictable, and frightening story poetically parses the meaning of wildness. Doesn't the wild have its own order, rules, and demands? Isn't human life wild in its emotional chaos, violence, and anguish? Versatile and nervy Canadian novelist Humphreys, whose works include " Afterimage" (2001) and " The Lost Gar"den (2002), delves into the deepest mysteries of existence with empathy, imagination, and an earthy and thrilling lyricism.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)