OCTOBER 2022: two books on predator creatures in safe spaces. HENRY HIMSELF. ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES.

HENRY HIMSELF (Stewart O’Nan)

ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES (Charlotte McConaghy)

Predators?  Their den? Our den?

So without planning it, I had selected two books about dens.  Homes for humans and habitat for wolves.

USA.  Henry in his easy well written family history tells us about his home, his retirement, the holiday house.  You would think it was us, in Australia. Henry is keeping busy, sustaining his later years. He easily finds jobs to do and family members to share the load.

In Scotland twin sisters Inti and Aggie visit.  Aggi is studying and Inti’s formal job entails a project to introduce 14 breeding wolves to remote highlands. They have names.  Inti is passionately emotionally committed to animal welfare.  

In a forest, wolves find a safe place for breeding and feeding.  The wolves’ territory adjoins a sheep farm where open farmlands and fences beside a forest does not guarantee a farmer stock security. The good intentions of humans with regard to endangered animals are positive but shared property poses problems.   Both quadrapeds and bipeds need nourishment. 

The interaction among living creatures in this adventure is fraught with danger.  The best of intentions can implode.  Wolves could become extinct somewhat accidentally.  Both sisters surprisingly have entangled romances that could threaten their own survival from trusted lovers.