In Patra’s case, it is maternal and in Grierson’s it is sexual. In a way, both Patra and Adam have similar problems: primal forces control them and each fails at resolution. Linda just watches as this situation deteriorates. Unfortunately, Paul is prone to illness and Leo is reluctant to seek any treatment for him because of his faith. Linda appears to view him as the “alpha animal” and thus competition for Patra’s attention and Linda’s acceptance into their family (pack). He is an astronomer and a devout Christian Scientist who, though frequently absent, seems to be excessively controlling when he does appear. In this instance, the source of Linda’s muddle stems from Patra’s husband, Leo. Linda bonds with Patra, whom she obviously admires. Patra Gardner lives on the other side of the lake and has a 4 year-old son, Paul, who Linda babysits. Linda’s second connection is a much more important plot element. Grierson disappears only to reappear briefly later in the novel. Additionally, Lily Holburn, a popular student accuses him (falsely?) of molestation. He has a record of pedophilia in California and a stash of child pornography at his place in Minnesota. Linda seemed to be on track to connect with her history teacher, Adam Grierson, only to have that derailed by a two-fold calamity. Fridlund provides Linda with two opportunities to connect, but both become muddled and leave her only more confused. Linda is a young wolf lurking in the trees on the edges of the pack with few tools, trying to discover the secrets she needs to join in. Her isolated childhood and lack of siblings have provided her with few useful social skills.

She has no close friends at school because she is excessively serious, dreamy and passive. Her parents are dour ex-hippies clinging to a lifestyle that moved on long ago. Linda is close to nature, but isolated from most human connections. However, Fridlund amps up the strangeness with a dark, foreboding atmosphere that borders on the gothic.

This situation is not unfamiliar to many teenagers. She is a loner, considered a “freak” and “commie” by her classmates. She is a teenager living with her parents-she’s not really sure they are her genetic parents-in a defunct hippie commune in Northern Minnesota. Wolves fascinate Mattie Furston, aka Linda. The narrator of Emily Fridlund’s coming-of-age novel, HISTORY OF WOLVES, seems to be a kind of wolf cub with neither the required social skills nor the pack to succeed in life. The wolf pack succeeds because of these skills. Wolves are predators, but also have highly evolved social skills.

History of wolves by emily fridlund