Lone Wolf (Picoult novel)

Last updated
Lone Wolf
Picoult's Lone Wolf.jpg
First edition hardcover
Author Jodi Picoult
Publisher Atria Books
Publication date
February 28, 2012
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages421
ISBN 978-1-4391-0274-9

Lone Wolf (2012) is the twentieth novel by the American author Jodi Picoult, and it is a New York Times bestselling book. [1] The novel was released on February 28, 2012 through Atria Books and focuses on a man returning to his childhood home after a terrible accident. [2]

Contents

Plot

Edward Warren has been living in Thailand for nearly 6 years when he receives a frantic telephone call: His estranged family have been badly injured in a car accident in New Hampshire. Warren's father, Luke is comatose, and his sister, Cara, has also been injured.

Cara still holds a grudge against Edward, ever since his departure led to their parents' divorce. In the wreckage of her parents' ruined marriage, Cara decides to live with her father - an animal conservationist who became famous after living with a gray wolf pack in the Canadian wilderness.

It is almost impossible for Cara to reconcile the broken man in the hospital bed with her vibrant, dynamic father.

Development

Picoult initially began developing Lone Wolf in the early 2000s after speaking with a neurologist about his patients that were in vegetative states. [3] Picoult chose to bring in elements of wolves after dreaming about them and wondering what a person would be like that lived with wolves rather than studying them from afar. [4] Picoult researched the behavior of gray wolves with the help of Shaun Ellis, the founder and head of Wolf Pack Management at Combe Martin Wildlife Park. [5]

Narrative style

Lone Wolf is told through multiple character perspectives, including Luke, Cara, Georgie, Edward, and the final chapter is narrated by Barney. Each character's narrative is written in a different and corresponding font. Picoult has employed this writing technique in a number of her novels, including House Rules, My Sister's Keeper, Songs of the Humpback Whale, Change of Heart, Sing You Home , and Handle with Care.

Reception

Critical reception for Lone Wolf has been mostly positive, [6] [7] with USA Today rating the book three out of four stars. [8] ABC and AZ Central also gave positive reviews, with AZ Central writing, that although parts of the family drama were "predictable", "Picoult's depiction of Luke's other families, the packs of wolves he has known and loved" saved the book. [9] [10]

In comparison, Barbara King, a reviewer for the Washington Post , criticized the book as lacking the balance of Picoult's earlier work. [11] King further criticized the novel in a post for NPR, stating that the portrayal of the wolves was inaccurate and that it misinformed the reader. [12] Lone Wolf was also criticized on similar grounds by representatives of the IWC (International Wolf Center). The IWC's chief wolf educator, Cornelia Hutt, stated the following:

In an effort to debunk the myths about the wolf as 'the beast of waste and desolation,' Picoult has created an equally unscientific, inaccurate and ultimately harmful portrayal of wolves and wolf packs.

L. David Mech, the IWC's founder, and an internationally recognized wolf expert, reviewed the book, and described it as 'outrageous' and 'unbelievable'. He further leveled specific criticism against Picoult's portrayal of wolves as wanting to "study" humans, how wolves supposedly allocate different body parts of a kill to different pack members, how they can tell the age of a prey animal by smelling its teeth, [13] and how most of Picoult's information came from Shaun Ellis, whom he described as "neither a scientist nor an expert on the natural behavior of wolves." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolf</span> Type of canine

The wolf, also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gray wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest extant member of the family Canidae, and is further distinguished from other Canis species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller Canis species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The wolf's fur is usually mottled white, brown, gray, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white.

Storyteller, story teller, or story-teller may refer to:

A lone wolf attack, or lone actor attack, is a particular kind of mass murder, committed in a public setting by an individual who plans and commits the act on their own. In the United States, such attacks are usually committed with firearms. In other countries, knives are sometimes used to commit mass stabbings. Although definitions vary, most databases require a minimum of four victims for the event to be considered a mass murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pack (canine)</span> Social group of conspecific canids

A pack is a social group of conspecific canines. The number of members in a pack and their social behavior varies from species to species. Social structure is very important in a pack. Canine packs are led by a breeding pair, consisting of the alpha male and alpha female.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodi Picoult</span> American author

Jodi Lynn Picoult is an American writer. Picoult has published 28 novels and short stories, and has also written several issues of Wonder Woman. Approximately 40 million copies of her books are in print worldwide and have been translated into 34 languages. In 2003, she was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction.

<i>Julie of the Wolves</i> 1972 novel by Jean Craighead George

Julie of the Wolves is a children's novel by Jean Craighead George, published by Harper in 1972 with illustrations by John Schoenherr. Set on the Alaska North Slope, it features a young Inuk girl experiencing the changes forced upon her culture from outside. George wrote two sequels that were originally illustrated by Wendell Minor: Julie (1994), which starts 10 minutes after the first book ends, and Julie's Wolf Pack (1997), which is told from the viewpoint of the wolves.

A lone wolf is a wolf not belonging to a pack. As a trope, it refers to an individual who prefers to operate alone.

Shaun Ellis is a British animal researcher who lived among wolves, and adopted a pack of abandoned North American timber wolf pups. He is the founder of Wolf Pack Management and is involved in a number of research projects in Poland and at Yellowstone National Park in the United States.

<i>Second Glance</i> 2003 novel by Jodi Picoult

Second Glance (2003) is the tenth novel by the American author Jodi Picoult.

<i>Change of Heart</i> (novel) 2008 novel by Jodi Picoult

Change of Heart is the sixteenth novel by American author Jodi Picoult, published in 2008. The novel explores themes of loss, redemption, religion and spirituality, and punishment.

<i>Breaking Dawn</i> Fourth novel in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Breaking Dawn is the 2008 fourth novel in The Twilight Saga by American author Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan's perspective, and the second is written from the perspective of Jacob Black. The novel directly follows the events of the previous novel, Eclipse, as Bella and Edward Cullen get married, leaving behind a heartbroken Jacob. When Bella faces unexpected and life-threatening situations, she willingly risks her human life and possible vampire immortality.

<i>Wolf: The Journey Home</i> Young adult fiction novel

Wolf: The Journey Home, originally titled Hungry for Home: A Wolf Odyssey, is a 1997 American young adult novel written by 'Asta Bowen. Originally published by Simon & Schuster with line drawings by Jane Hart Meyer, it was retitled and reprinted without illustrations in 2006 by Bloomsbury Publishing. Based on true accounts of the Pleasant Valley, Montana, wolf pack, the novel traces the life of a female alpha wolf named Marta after the forced relocation of her pack in 1989 to an unfamiliar territory. Terrified, Marta abandons her pack and begins a journey in search of her home; she eventually arrives in Ninemile Valley, where she finds a new mate with whom she starts a new pack.

<i>The Grey</i> (film) 2011 film by Joe Carnahan

The Grey is a 2011 survival thriller film co-written, produced and directed by Joe Carnahan, and starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, Nonso Anozie, and James Badge Dale. It is based on the short story "Ghost Walker" by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Carnahan. The story follows a number of oil-men stranded in Alaska after a plane crash who must survive multiple packs of Canadian grey wolves, stalking them during the mercilessly cold weather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OR-7</span> First wolf in western Oregon since 1947 and in California since 1924

OR-7, also known as Journey, was a male gray wolf that was electronically tracked as he migrated from the Wallowa Mountains in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oregon to the southern Cascade Range. After the wolf dispersed from his natal pack in 2011, he wandered generally southwest for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) through Oregon and northern California. He was the first confirmed wild wolf in western Oregon since 1947 and the first in California since 1924.

<i>The Storyteller</i> (Picoult novel) 2013 novel by Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller is the twenty-second novel written by the American author Jodi Picoult.

<i>The Wolves of Midwinter</i> Book by Anne Rice

The Wolves of Midwinter is a 2013 novel written by gothic fiction novelist Anne Rice and is the second book in her series The Wolf Gift Chronicles. It debuted at number 14 on The New York Times Best Seller list for print and E-book fiction and number 9 on the Hardcover Fiction list.

<i>Between the Lines</i> (novel) 2012 novel by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines is a young adult (YA) fiction novel co-written by the American author Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samantha Van Leer. Between the Lines is Picoult's first YA novel, and Van Leer's first published work. The novel was published on June 26, 2012, by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. Picoult and Van Leer authored a sequel called Off the Page, which was released in 2015 by Delacorte Press. Off the Page continues the story of Delilah and Oliver.

<i>Small Great Things</i> 2016 novel by Jodi Picoult

Small Great Things (2016) is the twenty-fifth novel by American author Jodi Picoult. The book focuses on race in America and revolves around the protagonist, a delivery nurse, named Ruth Jefferson. Small Great Things is being adapted into a film starring Viola Davis and Julia Roberts. This is Picoult's first novel with an African American protagonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howling</span> Animal sound

Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, often with some variation in pitch over the length of the sound. Howling is generally used by animals that engage in this behavior to signal their positions to one another, to call the pack to assemble, or to note their territory. The behavior is occasionally copied by humans, and has been noted to have varying degrees of significance in human culture.

<i>Wish You Were Here</i> (Picoult novel) 2021 novel by Jodi Picoult

Wish You Were Here is a novel written by American novelist Jodi Picoult. It was first published by Ballantine Books in 2021.

References

  1. Cowles, Gregory. "Best Sellers March 18, 2012". New York Times. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  2. "Review: Lone Wolf". School Library Journal. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  3. "Jodi Picoult learns to take the alpha role". Chicago Tribune. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  4. "Jodi Picoult Turns Tough Topics Into Best-Sellers". NPR. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  5. "A conversation with Jodi about Lone Wolf". jodipicoult.com.
  6. "Fiction Review: Lone Wolf". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  7. "Review: Lone Wolf". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  8. "Jodi Picoult's 'Lone Wolf' leads weekend book picks". USA Today. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  9. "Gillian's review: Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult". ABC. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  10. "'Lone Wolf' breaks from Picoult pack". AZ Central. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  11. King, Barbara J. (19 March 2012). "Book World: "Lone Wolf," by Jodi Picoult". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Why Are Wolf Scientists Howling At Jodi Picoult?". NPR. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  13. Tom Myrick. International Wolf Center Nominates Picoult's Lone Wolf for Scat Award [ permanent dead link ]. IWC Scat Awards. (March 8, 2012).