The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
The Wolf Wilder
Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Gelrev Onbico
Bloomsbury
NZ$18
Reviewed by Trevor Agnew
The Wolf Wilder is one of those books which is so fresh and amazing
that you walk around reading bits out to people. Feodora, a “dark and stormy girl,” the wolf
wilder of the title, has a dangerous occupation. Russian noblemen like to keep
captured wolves as pets but, since they are impossible to tame, the wolves become savage. Feodora’s role is to
teach these disoriented wolves to live in the wild again. Deep in the forest, she
shows them how to “be bold again, how to hunt and fight, and how to distrust
humans.”
Both Feodora and her mother have an affinity with wolves but
they still face constant peril. “They go
through clean bandages the way other people go through socks.”
A greater
menace, however, is General Rakov, whose soldiers protect the Tsar’s hunting rights
by shooting all wolves. When disaster strikes, Feodora and her wolves have to
flee. With only a runaway boy soldier to help, she has to confront Rakov and
save her mother.
This is an original, exciting and heart-warming adventure, richly
illustrated with paintings by Gelrev Onbico.
Trevor Agnew
This review was first published in Fairfax newspapers on 15 January 2016
