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Title: A Dream of Wolves : A Novel by Michael C. White ISBN: 0-06-093236-8 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 05 March, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.44 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: deft, gripping murder mystery transcends genre cliches
Comment: Michael C. White's compelling "A Dream of Wolves" is much more than an intriguing murder mystery. Written with a deft hand, the novel features an extraordinary protagonist, a middle-aged gynecologist wracked by guilt over his son's death and riddled with a sense of social and personal responsibility for not only his professional obligations but his personal life as well. Doctor Stuart Jordan not only finds himself embroiled in a troublesome homicide, he also attempts to resolve the terrible internal conflicts which have rendered his life quietly unbearable. Not only does the author surround Doc Jordan with a series of beautifully-realized characters, Michael White imbues his narrative with precise, evocative detail, from medical terminology to lush descriptions of the North Carolina Appalachians. This is a work which doesn't just transcend the boundaries of the mystery potboiler, it recreates them.
It is the quality of conscience and devotion to truth, both external and internal, which defines Doc Jordan. The premature, accidental death of his son some fifteen years previous has destroyed his marriage and left Jordan adrift in his own life. Guilty over an intemperate utterance at the time of his son's disappearance, Jordan futilely observes his marriage disintegrate; his wife's life dissolves in a haze of bipolar destructive behaviors. Unable to sever his relationship with Annabel while simultaneously initiating an invigorating but furtive relationship with an assistant district attorney, Doc Joran always seems subservient to his internalized sense of responsibility. Despite Annabel's deteriorating emotional state, Doc assumes responsibility for her status; on the basis of his word and an uncanny instinctive feel for an accused Cherokee woman, he assumes responsibility for the care of the accused's newborn child. He serves as a quiet Northern conscience in an isoalted, rural Southern town, always putting others ahead of himself, perpetually reminding himself of what he needs to do for others.
This keen psychological study of a tormented man, a good man thrust in a whirlwind of pain, guilt, recrimination and remore, is the cornerstone of "A Dream of Wolves." How Doc Jordan comes to grips with his personal circumstances, tenaciously serves justice in his quest for the truth of a grisly homicide and begins the wonderful process of personal regeneration, through his love for his custodial child and his passion for the love interest in his life are the separate threads Michael White adroitly interweaves in this immensely readable novel.
Rating: 4
Summary: well written and engaging
Comment: White has written a lyrical novel that deals with loss, pain, and loyalty....the loyalty of Rosa to her daughter and to the real murderer of her common-law husband; Stuart's loyalty to his severely mentally ill wife, Annabelle, who disappears for years at a time; and the loyalty of both Stuart and Annabelle to the memory of their lost son.
The descriptions of the North Carolina mountains and the small towns are just lovely and really evoke the feeling of being there. White fully fleshes out his characters and the community in which they live.
While the book begins with a murder, and while its investigation runs throughout the book, one would never call this a mystery. It is a well-done character study and an exploration of the feelings and motivations of these characters.
Rating: 3
Summary: Annabel and Stuart
Comment: Fourteen years before Michael C. White's "A Dream of Wolves" begins Stuart and Annabel Jordan lose their son Will in a freak hiking accident. Annabel, a manic depressive and alcoholic, whose hold on reality is tenuous at best, cracks up for good and takes to appearing and disappearing from Stuart's life at will always knowing that Stuart will be there to care for her and tend to her neuroses. Stuart, ever the good husband does exactly that, becoming in essence Annabel's co-dependent, obsessed with here whereabouts and well being. There is a very telling motif that runs through the entire novel: Annabel's hands. Stuart, as a way of gauging the level of Annabel's mania, is continually watching her hands: "Her hands, I noticed, began to tremble again. They shook as she lit her cigarette or sipped her tea....they made me think of my father's hands, when the Parkinson's was well advanced. And her eyes had that all-to-familiar unsettled look, darting restlessly about..." This is a classic indication of co-dependency: the continual searching for signs that all is well ...or not. It is not until Stuart begins an affair with a local D.A. Bobbie Tisdale, during one of Annabel's "disappearances", and also begins to care for an accused murderer's daughter (Maria) that Annabel's hold on him starts to unravel. Annabel, naturally and inevitably arrives on the scene "to help" Stuart and care for the child. And for a time Annabel is lucid, taking her medication and tending to the child, the house and the garden. But will it last? White has done a good job of melding all the disparate elements of this novel together (I have only mentioned a few) but ultimately the way he chooses to end the novel is not satisfying and even more damaging it seems tacked on; an afterthought that merely ties up all the various subplots. The most tender and well-written scenes are those dealing with Stuart's relationship with Annabel. It's a shame that White did not base his entire novel on that.
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Title: A Brother's Blood: A Novel by Michael C. White ISBN: 006092859X Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Blind Side of the Heart : A Novel by Michael C. White ISBN: 006093235X Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 23 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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