Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner

[AMP76]

Ordinary Wolves
By Seth Kantner

Part coming of age, part (fictional) autobiographical, part Jack London, Ordinary Wolves tells the story of Cutuk Hawcly growing up in the Alaska bush. Abe, Cutuk’s father, came to Alaska as a pilot, but grew enchanted with the wilderness and relocated his young family to the isolation, where his mother grew disenchanted with the hardship imposed on the lifestyle and hitched a flight back to the lower 48, never to be heard from again. As the only white family for miles and villages around, Cutuk (Clinton), his siblings Jerry and Iris, endured taunts from the native children for their father’s wish to live historically while all the villagers had moved on, from dog teams to snowmachines, from books to television. Although most tribal elders respected Abe and his way of preserving their old ways, the younger generation scorned the Hawcly’s primitive life. Abe persevered in foisting his lifestyle upon his children, mainly due to isolation, at the age of 18, each child left for the city and experienced culture shock, sights, sounds, smells, congestion never imagined. In their own way and time, each child also eventually returned to their roots.

Beautiful first novel combining splendid prose and vivid imagery. From this reader’s perspective, a talented new writer, whom I shall look forward to reading again in the future.