Tell the Wolves I’m Home – Carol Rifka Brunt
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: At the height of the AIDS crisis in America, 14-year-old June loses her beloved artist uncle, Finn, to the disease. While her parents and sister place blame on his long-term boyfriend, Toby, there’s something about him that captivates June. Soon after the funeral, they begin an unlikely friendship built on shared grief and love for the man that loomed large in both of their lives.
Expectation: A different take on the well-worn gay-men-with-AIDS story.
Reality: Too many half-baked elements that detract from the emotional core of the story: June, Toby and the specter of Finn.
Recommended For: Fans of serious young adult gay fiction.
Why I read It: The title and cover. Seriously, I love them both.
My Take:
Sometimes I’ll finish a story, and I must get my thoughts down immediately because I don’t want to lose the feelings I had while reading it. This wasn’t one of those reads, although it showed that promise from time-to-time.
Now a week out from finishing “Wolves,” I can honestly say that I haven’t thought about it much, which is surprising given the subject matter.
I’ve read a few novels set during the AIDS crisis, but it’s not a subgenre I seek out. While a watershed moment in LGBTQ history, for years many non-queer people have used the disease to marginalize the experiences of gay characters in literature, TV and film.
Think of how many gay characters from the 1980s and 1990s were around solely to die from AIDS to make the non-queer main character look noble? This cliché perpetuates shame and furthers the subtext that if you are not heterosexual bad things await you. I can speak from personal experience that these messages have a negative impact on youth and can contribute to a fair amount of internal homophobia.
Digression aside, part of what drew me to “Wolves” was that it was a young adult story told from the perspective of June, a teenager who loses her beloved uncle and best friend, Finn, to the disease in 1987 New York.
As a guncle, and someone who doesn’t aspire to have children, the idea of your legacy being left with your sibling’s children resonates with me. If the story dug deeper into this theme, I probably would’ve liked it more.
Admittedly I’m more critical of young adult stories than other genres, so I’ll present a few pros and cons, and you can decide if “Wolves” is worth the read for you:
CON: Toby, Finn’s long-term boyfriend, is portrayed as the typical villainous gay man, recklessly infecting others with HIV/AIDs. While this may have been an opinion some family members that lost loved ones at the height of the crisis may have held, haven’t we moved past this? June spends most of the novel wondering how she can like the person that “killed” her uncle so much.
PRO: There are some unflinching discussions, specifically between June and her sister, Greta, about homophobia, taboos, grief and sexuality that make this a firmly PG-13 read. We know these conversations happen, and it was refreshing to see them addressed so frankly.
CON: There are some WTF plots. Basically, everything with Greta. I get it. Everyone grieves differently, but she was a caricature. And, the parents. Let’s just say if I were an accountant, I would take umbrage with how they are portrayed.
PRO: The relationship between June and Toby and how, through each other, they learn about different aspects of the person they both loved. It is sweet, sad and the emotional center of the story. But, it’s almost treated as a minor plot in favor of giving other characters something to overcome.
TOSS-UP: The art plot. I love art, and I love books and movies that focus on the art world. Finn was a world-renowned artist that had June and Greta sit for a portrait prior to his death. Then once the girls get the painting, they regularly visit the safety deposit box where it is stored and add embellishments to it because Finn didn’t get it “perfect.” I cannot even begin to describe how stupid this is -- both in theory and practice.
All things considered, this one falls firmly in the good-not-great category for me. While well-written and mostly enjoyable, it’s difficult for me to look past its shortcomings and clichés to put it on my recommendations list.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: June 29 – July 5, 2020
Multi-tasking: Good to go.
