The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

[Kidsmum]

I don't understand the storyline of Line and Espen and why they were relevant. They didn't have any influence or effect on the more central characters, so they could easily have been omitted, unless to show the hardship of the land when they are attempting to reach Dove River? I also found Mrs Ross falling in love with William Parker a bit hard to believe. That seemed to come out of nowhere, unless I missed something?

 

Yes i hadn't really thought of that but they were kind of surplus to requirements.. For some reason in my head Parker looked like a Klingon, I thought he was quite similar to her husband in that he didn't really show his emotions maybe that was why she was attracted to him.

 

 

I struggled with the fact that, despite the interesting storyline and enjoyable style of writing, I found the book unremittingly depressing. On both readings. In fact, I had found it so depressing the first time that I threw the book away (something I only do a couple of times a decade!) and had to buy it again for the Reading Circle.

 

Isn't it funny how we can all feel differently about a book although i agree it wasn't a barrel of laughs i didn't find it depressing

 

. For a short while I was confused with Half Man and Nepanenees and thought they were the same person

It also left me somewhat unsatisfied when it was obvious we were never going to know what happened to Amy Seton.

 

At one point i thought Half Man was Nesbit , i thought maybe they called him that because of his drug addiction. It was only when Stewart calls out to him in cree that i realised it couldn't be Nesbit

I would like it if Penney wrote a kind of prequel & told the full story of the Seton girls , i thought that part of the story was really interesting & would have liked to know more about them.

[Kidsmum]

If you read the earlier posts, you will see that these two things have been perplexing us, too

 

That's a relief i thought i was going to be the only one that didn't get it Because it was right at the end of the book i think i felt it must have more significance than it obviously did.

 

I think Espen has to be my most disliked person in the whole story. Leaving his wife and children? Not nice at all. Leaving Line

and her children in the forest to die??? Utterly despicable.

 

I agree in a lot of ways he was worse than Line because he was such a coward. I did feel sorry for her when he abandoned them he must have known they could die out there all alone

 

I agree, he was a selfish weak-minded individual. And he didn't even get his comeuppance in the end.

 

 

That made me angry as well i think he should have been made to sit in the snow till his bits dropped off at the very least

[bree]

1- Who was your favourite character? Were there any characters whom you disliked?

 

I really liked Mr. Knox.

He first entered the narrative through Mrs. Ross eyes - who looked at him as a rather weak and insipid man.

But from there on his character only grew in strength and dignity.

 

I loved this his relationship with his wife and daughters, his sense of justice and compassion towards Parker, his honest and quiet acceptance of his own limitations, his strength of character when he arrives at his decision to stand by his conscience...

 

He wasn't necessarily a main character, but each time he was mentioned in the book, my admiration and respect for him grew.

 

I disliked Mr. Scott. Full of pretentious respectability, a racist, and a wife-beater.

Mackinley and Stewart were horrible too - but Scott was whom I disliked the most.

 

 

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

 

The part where Parker wakes up Mrs. Ross to show her the she-wolf was perfectly written.

Pure poetry - and I do believe I read that bit almost holding my breath.

 

 

3- Did you like the writing? What did you think of the way the story was told (partly from Mrs Ross's point of view, partly third person omniscient narrator?)

The writing was beautiful. Words picked with conscious care and put together in liquid lyric.

The changing narrative didn't affect my reading - but I was very conscious of the fact that the book is almost entirely in present tense.

I think the author pulled it off convincingly.

 

 

4- Was this the first book you've read by this author, has it encouraged you to read more?

Yes, it is the first of her books I've read. And no, I don't think I want to read any other books of hers, at least not any time soon.

 

5- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

 

I struggled with how the book turned out.

I as gripped by its narrative almost from the beginning.

I loved the writing, and it built an eager anticipation for wanting to know what comes next and how it would grow.

Around 60% down the book I sort of knew how each of the sub-plots would turn out - and I had a slight, almost reluctant sense of disappointment that it wasn't more, well challenging/complex.

 

I felt the brilliant ground-work that was laid out in the beginning was diluted by too many sub-plots - and not one of them being solid enough to grip you entirely.

But as 40% of the book was still left, I had hope. But things slowly went downhill from there. There is only that far that beautiful words can take you, and for me it couldn't hide the inherent weakness of the story.

 

By the end of it I was actually irritated and felt a bit let down - the last bit was, I thought, juvenile-

It's a rather sad that at the end of reading a book with so many motifs - the author chose to leave her faithful reader with a silly puzzle about Mrs. Ross's name.

It seems to trivialise the whole novel for me, and makes me wonder if she didn't sacrifice the essence of her novel - which I assume to be about people and their lives - and that period - in a silly attempt to be clever and add one more puzzle.

 

I was also not convinced with the end she gave Donald. His realisation about Maria, or the fact that he needed to die.

I felt underneath all wonderful writing (starting with the gorgeous title) - it was a pot-boiler - trying to fit it all in - adolescence angst, lost treasure, murder, adultery, forbidden love, alternative sexuality, racism, the works.

 

Sadly, as much as I didn't want to be, I was disappointed.

 

 

6- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

It was up to a point, but unfortunately not till the end.

Edited January 8, 2013 by bree

[bree]

I'd like to add a question, if I please may, frankie?

 

The title of the book.

What did you think of it? And what relevance do you think it has to the book?

 

I'd love to know all your opinions please - because I think its a beautiful, rather unlikely, title.

[Kidsmum]

The title of the book.

What did you think of it? And what relevance do you think it has to the book?

 

Good question Bree

 

The title doesn't seem to have much relevance to the actual story but it did make me think of the part where Line is asleep in the forest with her children & the wolf comes so close to her that she smells it's breath but doesn't harm her or the children.

[frankie]

Yes i hadn't really thought of that but they were kind of surplus to requirements.. For some reason in my head Parker looked like a Klingon, I thought he was quite similar to her husband in that he didn't really show his emotions maybe that was why she was attracted to him.

 

I'm going to have to google Klingon because I don't honestly know what it/he/she is Hold on... Ah, okay. So did you mean Parker physically looked like a Klingon, or did he seem like a Klingon, in regards to his personality? I'm sorry if it seems I'm taking you for face value, but I find it an interesting analogy and I guess my not being familiar with a Klingon adds to it

 

I know what you mean when you say Parker didn't show his emotions, but in my opinion he did, but in very, very subtle ways. I think it was said somewhere that Francis and Mr Ross didn't even look Mrs Ross in the eyes, and Parker in contrast could hold her gaze and he would look into her eyes several times. I might be a romantic for saying this, but I think Parker and Mrs Ross could sometimes read each other's thoughts and feelings from each other's eyes. But maybe that is what I want to believe, rather than what actually happened in the book.

 

I would like it if Penney wrote a kind of prequel & told the full story of the Seton girls , i thought that part of the story was really interesting & would have liked to know more about them.

 

I certainly wouldn't mind reading that!

 

That made me angry as well i think he should have been made to sit in the snow till his bits dropped off at the very least

 

Yes, very apt punishment

 

 

1- Who was your favourite character? Were there any characters whom you disliked?

 

I really liked Mr. Knox.

He first entered the narrative through Mrs. Ross eyes - who looked at him as a rather weak and insipid man.

But from there on his character only grew in strength and dignity.

 

I loved this his relationship with his wife and daughters, his sense of justice and compassion towards Parker, his honest and quiet acceptance of his own limitations, his strength of character when he arrives at his decision to stand by his conscience...

 

He wasn't necessarily a main character, but each time he was mentioned in the book, my admiration and respect for him grew.

 

Interesting thoughts! Especially the way you noticed we first met Mr Knox through the eyes of Mrs Ross, and then we got to know him better through his own feelings and dealings and thoughts. I hadn't realised that before.

 

I agree, I also liked his stand-up character, in a way he and Maria were like Mr Bennet and Elizabeth (from Pride and Prejudice) in their relationship.

 

However, there was something about Mr Knox I didn't like. He was outraged that Parker had been beaten up in prison. Yet he never once showed any such outrage when Mr Scott had beaten up his wife - yet again. It's not exactly the same thing because Mr Scott doesn't work for him and wasn't on duty, but still. Mr Knox is a man of the law and I'd wished he'd done something about Mr and Mrs Scott.

 

 

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

 

The part where Parker wakes up Mrs. Ross to show her the she-wolf was perfectly written.

Pure poetry - and I do believe I read that bit almost holding my breath.

 

I agree 100%!

 

 

I'd like to add a question, if I please may, frankie?

 

Yes, of course! I had completely forgotten about telling you guys that you are very welcome to come up with questions, too. I shall add yours to the list on the first post, thanks!

 

 

The title of the book.

What did you think of it? And what relevance do you think it has to the book?

 

 

It's a beautiful title, like you said, bree, and I've been wondering about it. Throughout the novel I kept waiting for the origin of the title to emerge, I was waiting for the words to surface somewhere and tie up the meaning of the title into the book. I'm not very good at symbolism and I struggle with titles which are not explicitly deciphered in the novel itself.

 

Off the top of my head, I'd say that the wolves can refer to any wild 'beast' that lives alone or in packs with other 'beasts' like himself. Meaning, it could refer to people like Parker. And how someone like him, who lives out there in the woods for most of the time and is untamed, can be as gentle and personable as he was with Mrs Ross.

 

I also have a question: which of you had sussed out that Francis and Jammet had a relationship more intimate than that of neighbors and just friends? I was gobsmacked when I read it in the novel, I had not seen it coming at all. It was a great twist in my opinion.

[bobblybear]

The title of the book.

What did you think of it? And what relevance do you think it has to the book?

 

After I finished the book I was left pondering the title trying to work out where it came from or what it actually means. I have to say, I still don't have any idea as wolves are quite peripheral to the story. In the book we see quite a bit of the nastiness that can be part of human nature, and maybe compared to that the wolves are seen as tender beings? The wolves never seem to hurt anyone/thing unless it is necessary for their own survival but the people in the story seem to be quite willing to hurt one another just to get what they want (material gain, rather than out of necessity) or to exercise control over them. I love the title, it's very original.

 

I also have a question: which of you had sussed out that Francis and Jammet had a relationship more intimate than that of neighbors and just friends? I was gobsmacked when I read it in the novel, I had not seen it coming at all. It was a great twist in my opinion.

 

There were a few hints dropped in the story, but the main one for me was when Line kissed Francis on the mouth and he looked at her disgustedly. She thinks to herself that 'One or two things have just become clear to her'. I did have to read that part a few times and I did wonder then if Francis was gay. Even though I had read the book before, I completely forgot Francis was gay, unless maybe subconsciously I remembered and the hints were just reminding me!!

[frankie]

After I finished the book I was left pondering the title trying to work out where it came from or what it actually means. I have to say, I still don't have any idea as wolves are quite peripheral to the story. In the book we see quite a bit of the nastiness that can be part of human nature, and maybe compared to that the wolves are seen as tender beings? The wolves never seem to hurt anyone/thing unless it is necessary for their own survival but the people in the story seem to be quite willing to hurt one another just to get what they want (material gain, rather than out of necessity) or to exercise control over them. I love the title, it's very original.

 

That's a great theory! I would buy it

 

 

There were a few hints dropped in the story, but the main one for me was when Line kissed Francis on the mouth and he looked at her disgustedly. She thinks to herself that 'One or two things have just become clear to her'. I did have to read that part a few times and I did wonder then if Francis was gay. Even though I had read the book before, I completely forgot Francis was gay, unless maybe subconsciously I remembered and the hints were just reminding me!!

 

I usually have a gaydar 'up and running' and I can suss these things out pretty well, but with this novel I didn't see it coming at all. Not even when Line kissed Francis, which was a clear sign for you. I'm going to attribute that to Penney's great writing.

[Ooshie]

I think the book title is lovely, but I didn't feel it had much to do with the content - until I read frankie's suggestion, which I liked very much! I have to admit that I wondered about the relationship between Francis and Jammet as soon as I read about Francis bursting out of the cabin so excitedly, when it seemed to different to the way his usual behaviour was described. So I either have a more developed gaydar than I thought, or I'm just weird (I will accept either theory!

[frankie]

I think the book title is lovely, but I didn't feel it had much to do with the content - until I read frankie's suggestion, which I liked very much! I have to admit that I wondered about the relationship between Francis and Jammet as soon as I read about Francis bursting out of the cabin so excitedly, when it seemed to different to the way his usual behaviour was described. So I either have a more developed gaydar than I thought, or I'm just weird (I will accept either theory!

 

That is so weird.... I do remember Mrs Ross seeing Francis plummet out of the cabin and laughing, and going back in again, but I just figured that since Mrs Ross doesn't feel like she's connecting with Francis anymore in any case, it was just some fun-frolicking with friends that happened. Honestly... Ooshie, your gaydar can kick my gaydar's ass, it seems! I still can't believe I didn't have any inkling.

 

Edit: I'd like to know bree's thoughts on the title, she asked the question and I'm wondering what she made of it

[bree]

There were a few hints dropped in the story, but the main one for me was when Line kissed Francis on the mouth and he looked at her disgustedly.

This is when I suspected too -especially when he added "it's me, not you" and tried to lessen her embarrassment.

 

About the title, my thoughts are along the same lines as all of you.

I thought that by instinct the wolves were feared,or blamed for many things, and mostly because of ignorance

>The Seton girls disappearance

> Mrs.Ross fear of them before setting out

> Line's fear when she's alone with her children (thank you kidsmum for reminding me of that bit).

> Espen assuming that Line and the children were eaten up by the wolves

 

But not once had the wolves actually harmed anyone. They were just beautiful and natural and part of the wilderness.

And they even showed their softer side to Mrs.Ross and to Line

I couldn't help but wonder, just like frankie did, that it could also refer to the people who lived in the wild - like Parker - much feared and seen with prejudice - but actually just living their own lives in peace, and capable of much tenderness.

Edited January 12, 2013 by bree

[bree]

Meanwhile, a google hunt threw up this-

1973 - The Tenderness of Wolves (film)

 

so it wasn't an original title after all!

 

(But a brilliant one none-the-less!)

Edited January 12, 2013 by bree

[bree]

I should work for Mythbusters.

 

That was a cool bit of deduction indeed!

And I agree with all of you - there's no way that Mrs.Ross could be Eve!

 

Also, did any of you find Mr. Ross an enigma?

Why do you think he suddenly withdrew from his wife and grew distant from her over the years?

Weird!

[Ooshie]

Also, did any of you find Mr. Ross an enigma?

Why do you think he suddenly withdrew from his wife and grew distant from her over the years?

Weird!

 

Yes, I very much found him an enigma. Do I remember rightly that in the book the earliest mention of him was driving Mrs Ross away from the asylum? But how did he meet her? And why did he become so distant from her when he obviously had deep feelings for her, or he wouldn't have been so happy to find out that she was alright?

 

I am beginning to think that Stef Penney needs to write a whole series of prequels to give us even a hope of properly understanding her book!

[frankie]

This is when I suspected too -especially when he added "it's me, not you" and tried to lessen her embarrassment.

 

Eventhough I can now see this is a sign, at the time when I was reading this part I thought he wasn't 'into' it only because he'd never fancied her. And I don't remember if he knew that she was with Espen? No, he couldn't have known, could he, as it was a secret. I guess I've started to (wrongly) think after finishing the novel that he knew about Line and Espen and was disappointed in her character, that he felt she was a bit of a promiscuous woman. I guess I was projecting my own thoughts and feelings of Line onto Francis

 

About the title, my thoughts are along the same lines as all of you.

I thought that by instinct the wolves were feared,or blamed for many things, and mostly because of ignorance

>The Seton girls disappearance

> Mrs.Ross fear of them before setting out

> Line's fear when she's alone with her children (thank you kidsmum for reminding me of that bit).

> Espen assuming that Line and the children were eaten up by the wolves

 

But not once had the wolves actually harmed anyone. They were just beautiful and natural and part of the wilderness.

And they even showed their softer side to Mrs.Ross and to Line

 

I think the keyword is ignorance, well thought, bree! I wouldn't have come up with so many events that could be linked to wolves on my own, but now that you've listed them I see there were quite a few of them.

 

 

Meanwhile, a google hunt threw up this-

1973 - The Tenderness of Wolves (film)

 

so it wasn't an original title after all!

 

(But a brilliant one none-the-less!)

 

Haha, when I saw the title of the movie and the year of release, I thought to myself, 'I thought this was a more recent novel, I had no idea it was published in -73 or before! And then felt really silly because I read the rest of that post

 

Also, did any of you find Mr. Ross an enigma?

Why do you think he suddenly withdrew from his wife and grew distant from her over the years?

Weird!

 

Yes, I very much found him an enigma. Do I remember rightly that in the book the earliest mention of him was driving Mrs Ross away from the asylum? But how did he meet her? And why did he become so distant from her when he obviously had deep feelings for her, or he wouldn't have been so happy to find out that she was alright?

 

As far as I remember, the first (and only) mention of the beginnings of Mr Ross and Mrs Ross's relationship is that which you mentioned: Mr Ross driving Mrs Ross away from the asylum. But we were never told how they met. How would a single man come to know a woman who's living at an asylum? It raises so many questions, and it's another topic for another prequel, like you said, Ooshie

 

The more I think about the book and the more I discuss it with you, the more of a mystery the book becomes...

 

As for why Mr Ross withdrew from his wife, I have only vague guesses. Was it mentioned anywhere how long it had been since he started growing colder and dismissive of her? The only thing that comes to mind is that maybe it happened when Mr Ross found out that Francis was gay. I guess he didn't take it very well, we all know that they didn't get along anymore. And because Mr Ross hadn't shared the information with Mrs Ross, I guess that became a wedge between them, and that wedge would grow bigger and bigger when Mrs Ross started to noticed Mr Ross being more distant, and her possibly reacting to it by distancing herself from him in return.

[lauraloves]

1- Who was your favourite character? Were there any characters whom you disliked? I'm not too sure if i had one, maybe Mrs Ross because of her determination to find her son and prove him innocent.

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I liked the part with the girls who went missing and the story surrounding that.

3- Did you like the writing? What did you think of the way the story was told (partly from Mrs Ross's point of view, partly third person omniscient narrator?) I did struggle with the writing a bit i found it quite hard to get through all the description and i couldnt always figure out who the narrator was at times.

4- Was this the first book you've read by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? Here's a link to Penney's second novel The Invisible Ones. yes, first book by the author but I'm not sure if i would read more.

5- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I struggled really to get into the whole book

6- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? I'd love to say yes but i really struggled all the way through

7. The title of the book: What did you think of it? And what relevance do you think it has to the book? (provided by bree) I'm not too sure to be honest i didnt reallly understand the relevance.

[bree]

 

5- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I struggled really to get into the whole book

6- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? I'd love to say yes but i really struggled all the way through

 

Aww Laura - sounds like you really had a hard time with it

The split narrative can prove distracting if you read it with breaks.

I admire you for sticking to it and completing it - I would have given up half-way if I had struggled too - as it wasn't the shortest of books!

[lauraloves]

 

Aww Laura - sounds like you really had a hard time with it

The split narrative can prove distracting if you read it with breaks.

I admire you for sticking to it and completing it - I would have given up half-way if I had struggled too - as it wasn't the shortest of books!

 

I did keep thinking that I must be in the minority as its an award winning book! I did hope that it would pick up as it went along for me but sadly not

 

I don't like giving up on books so I did tick with it :/

[frankie]

I'm really sorry to hear you didn't like the novel, Laura! Maybe it was not the right time for you, or it didn't fit your mood, or maybe it just wasn't a book that was for you. I admire you for sticking with it but on the other hand I wish you hadn't felt you wanted to finish it because it's not like you to quit reading a book once you've started.

 

I have another question: If you didn't know beforehand about Penney's nationality (she's British), did you figure she was Canadian? Do you think she 'pulled off' the description of the wild and the climate well?

 

I knew she was a Brit because I read all of the info on the covers before I started reading the book, and it was said that some thought after reading the book that Penney was Canadian. I read somewhere that during the writing of the novel Penney struggled with agoraphobia and she did her research in libraries in the UK. I think she was very convincing in her writing, I found it very authentic.

[lauraloves]

I'm really sorry to hear you didn't like the novel, Laura! Maybe it was not the right time for you, or it didn't fit your mood, or maybe it just wasn't a book that was for you. I admire you for sticking with it but on the other hand I wish you hadn't felt you wanted to finish it because it's not like you to quit reading a book once you've started.

 

I have another question: If you didn't know beforehand about Penney's nationality (she's British), did you figure she was Canadian? Do you think she 'pulled off' the description of the wild and the climate well?

 

I really wanted to like the book but I just couldn't get into it I think I read it at the wrong time cos I've had a lot going on

 

I would have said the author was Canadian I wouldn't have thought she was British at all!

[bree]

I knew she was a Brit because I read all of the info on the covers before I started reading the book, and it was said that some thought after reading the book that Penney was Canadian. I read somewhere that during the writing of the novel Penney struggled with agoraphobia and she did her research in libraries in the UK. I think she was very convincing in her writing, I found it very authentic.

I would have said the author was Canadian I wouldn't have thought she was British at all!

I agree with both you.

The writing was authentic.

Edited January 20, 2013 by bree

[Kidsmum]

I'm going to have to google Klingon because I don't honestly know what it/he/she is Hold on... Ah, okay. So did you mean Parker physically looked like a Klingon, or did he seem like a Klingon, in regards to his personality? I'm sorry if it seems I'm taking you for face value, but I find it an interesting analogy and I guess my not being familiar with a Klingon adds to it

 

I know what you mean when you say Parker didn't show his emotions, but in my opinion he did, but in very, very subtle ways. I think it was said somewhere that Francis and Mr Ross didn't even look Mrs Ross in the eyes, and Parker in contrast could hold her gaze and he would look into her eyes several times. I might be a romantic for saying this, but I think Parker and Mrs Ross could sometimes read each other's thoughts and feelings from each other's eyes. But maybe that is what I want to believe, rather than what actually happened in the book.

 

 

 

However, there was something about Mr Knox I didn't like. He was outraged that Parker had been beaten up in prison. Yet he never once showed any such outrage when Mr Scott had beaten up his wife - yet again. It's not exactly the same thing because Mr Scott doesn't work for him and wasn't on duty, but still. Mr Knox is a man of the law and I'd wished he'd done something about Mr and Mrs Scott.

 

 

 

I also have a question: which of you had sussed out that Francis and Jammet had a relationship more intimate than that of neighbors and just friends? I was gobsmacked when I read it in the novel, I had not seen it coming at all. It was a great twist in my opinion.

 

 

Apologies Frankie i only just saw your question. Yes it was the description of Parker that made me think of him as a Klingon for some reason, i guess he'd had a hard life & it showed in his face. Perhaps Parker & Mrs Ross could read each others thoughts i'm sure being in those kind of conditions where you have to depend on each other for survival would bring you closer together.

 

I'm not 100% sure but i think probably knocking your wife about in those days wasn't considered a crime so i don't think Knox would have been able to interfere in what would be thought of as a private matter

 

I didn't suspect the Francis Jammet storyline either. I thought that Francis had formed a friendship with him because he didn't get on with his own father. I love it when something takes me completely by surprise in a book like that & i agree it was a great twist.

[frankie]

I would have said the author was Canadian I wouldn't have thought she was British at all!

 

I agree with both you.

The writing was authentic.

 

I think it says a lot about Penney's talent as an author, to be able to lead her readers on to thinking she's Canadian only based on the fact that the story takes place there. I have a lot of respect for authors who do an extensive amount of research for their novels and who make it seem effortless in their writing: that it was something they knew by heart, not something they had to study for.

 

Apologies Frankie i only just saw your question. Yes it was the description of Parker that made me think of him as a Klingon for some reason, i guess he'd had a hard life & it showed in his face. Perhaps Parker & Mrs Ross could read each others thoughts i'm sure being in those kind of conditions where you have to depend on each other for survival would bring you closer together.

 

Yes I think Parker was described as having a face that showed all he had been through in his life. I don't think they had a huge variety of skin moisturizers back in the day and even if they had had them, Parker didn't seem the sort of fella to go for that type of life

 

That's a good point you make: that because they had to be able to depend on each other for survival, they must've been more receptive to the other person's thoughts and ideas and their persona.

 

 

I'm not 100% sure but i think probably knocking your wife about in those days wasn't considered a crime so i don't think Knox would have been able to interfere in what would be thought of as a private matter

 

I think you are right in that there probably wasn't much or anything at all he could've done about it, but I just felt it rather heartless that he didn't at least think about it or do something about it as a man to man -basis, on an unofficial way, but as a man of leverage, pull and means, if you know what I mean. I know, this is only a small detail in the book, it's not even a subplot, but it just stayed with me and irritated me.

 

 

I didn't suspect the Francis Jammet storyline either. I thought that Francis had formed a friendship with him because he didn't get on with his own father. I love it when something takes me completely by surprise in a book like that & i agree it was a great twist.

 

You mean you thought Francis may have seen Jammet as a father figure, his own father being so evasive and remote? I didn't think of it that way but that would've actually made a lot of sense, too!

[bree]

Just popped in to say thank you to you frankie - for hosting the reading circle - and to all of you - I really enjoyed discussing it with you

(And bobblybear, am glad you nominated this book, as I'm not sure I'd have picked it up otherwise)

[bobblybear]

You're welcome, Bree. I really enjoyed discussing it.