Tenderness of Wolves

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION - FEATURES READING GROUP QUESTIONS AND NEW MATERIAL FROM STEF'S UPCOMING EPIC NOVEL, UNDER A POLE STAR

COSTA AWARD WINNER and WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER. A breathtaking tale of mystery, buried secrets and romance, set in nineteenth century frontier Canada - for fans of THE SNOW CHILD and A PLACE CALLED WINTER.

'Unquestionably atmospheric, evocative and rewarding' Independent on Sunday

'A tense and delicately written thriller' Observer

Canada, 1867. A young murder suspect flees across the snowy wilderness. Tracking him is what passes for the law in this frontier land: trappers, sheriffs, traders and the suspect's own mother, desperate to clear his name. As the party pushes further from civilisation, hidden purposes and old obsessions are revealed. One is seeking long-lost daughters; another a fortune in stolen furs; yet another is chasing rumours of a lost Native American culture. But where survival depends on cooperation, their fragile truce cannot afford to be broken, nor their overriding purpose - to find justice for a murdered man - forgotten.

The Tenderness of Wolves is a must-read historical epic, weaving adventure, suspense and humour into an exhilarating thriller, a panoramic romance and ultimately, one of the books of the last ten years.

Review: a tense and delicately written thriller - The Observer * Observer *

... a quite remarkable debut novel.' Birmingham Post * Birmingham Post *

"This subtle and superb novel brings the freezing landscape of the Canadian woods to such vivid life that the landscape itself becomes a strong character within the story. Once you have dived into the tiny, closeted world of Caulfield and its forbidding surroundings, you will certainly not wish to leave." Crimesquad.com * Crimesquad.com *

... a highly-assured debut....Stef Penney has written an absorbing and stylish mystery. The Glasgow Herald * Glasgow Herald *

"...Stef Penney's hefty first novel The Tenderness of Wolves, mines her setting and period for all it's got and then some, injecting plenty of invented intrigue and Da Vinci Code like revelations of Huge Cultural Importance whenever she can. The result is an entertaining, well-constructed mystery that jazzes up the "real" history in a way that's more Ron Howard than Pierre Berton. It's...sexy, suspenseful, densely plotted storytelling...The Tenderness of Wolves remains a first-rate gripper with a notably sensual as well as psychological understanding of its main characters. More than this, it is a novel with far greater ambitions than your average thriller, combining as it does the themes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness with Atwood's Survival, and lashing them to a story that morphs Ian Rankin..." Andrew Pyper, The Globe and Mail * Globe and Mail *

unquestionably atmospheric, evocative and eventually rewarding - Independent On Sunday * Independent On Sunday *

Prizes: Winner of Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2008 and Costa First Novel Award 2007. Short-listed for British Book Awards: Waterstones Newcomer of the Year Award 2008 and Independent Booksellers' Week Book of the Year Award: Adults' Book of the Year 2007 and CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award 2007.