One of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, Hall offers an earthy novel, successfully exploring ideas of family, maternity, personal demons, social class, and wilderness vs. urban development. Interesting and original, it should have wide appeal.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Where does freedom end and wildness begin? Self-preservation and intimacy? Sex and commitment? These are the gray borders Hall inspects...The real story is the one about one woman’s coming to terms, not only with her family, but with her own untameable nature.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A bold, sensuous novel.” — Elle
“Superb...Hall’s skill as a writer ‘borders’ on the magical. She captures with ease and alacrity the territory between the interior, Rachel’s thoughts and impressions, and the exterior, physical reality. She one-ups Joseph Conrad’s famous adage that writers should make us see. Passage after passage move seamlessly between the two realms and mesmerize with flawless imagery and astute observation...In 2013, Hall was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. THE WOLF BORDER reinforces such praise.” — Roanoke Times
“An absorbing portrait of a woman and her conflicted relationships with family, homeland, and identity.” — Booklist
“The themes of Sarah Hall’s fifth novel, THE WOLF BORDER, interlock like gears: men and women together, family, the animal/human divide, the idea of wilderness. The wolf border — the line beyond which wolves roam freely — turns out to be porous, in each of us, and in the culture at large... More dazzling is her ability to distill so much into the pages of this completely satisfying novel — those big themes taken at a loose, loping run with a hint of menace.” — New York Times Book Review
“THE WOLF BORDER tracks Rachel through romantic and familial entanglements, childbirth and a series of dramatic events surrounding the wolf project in Cumbria. The plotting and characterization are crisp and effective, but perhaps the greatest pleasure is her prose.” — Chicago Tribune
“I imagine that THE WOLF BORDER — stylish, intelligent and a cracking read — will mark the point at which [Hall] stops being promising, and becomes something of a star.” — Sunday Times (London)
“A thrilling tale of politics and power ... Compulsively absorbing and masterfully plotted, [THE WOLF BORDER] confirms Hall as one of our finest fiction writers.” — Daily Mail (UK)
“The skills that Sarah Hall demonstrates in her highly anticipated fifth novel are significant and profound... So it is that the descriptions of altered or threatened landscapes for which she is celebrated ... convey beauty but resist the picturesque, instead posing questions about it.” — The Guardian
This is a book overflowing with life and history, propelled by a writer who engages all the reader’s senses.” — Telegraph
“Sarah Hall is wonderful at pinpointing the push and pull of loyalties, the way a person can be undone or remade by the force of fresh emotion. She’s equally brilliant at tackling the notions of land ownership in an increasingly urbanised society... [A] graceful, visceral, utterly compelling read.” — Sunday Express (London)
“Vivid and visceral.” — The Times (London)
“[A] writer of sensual, muscular prose about the liminal spaces between civilisation and wilderness ... Everything about this setting provides a perfect playground for Hall’s gorgeously visceral prose ... As the plot heads towards a crash, it’s hard to decide which is more frightening: the untameable, or to be tamed.” — The Independent on Sunday
“Make no mistake, Hall is an accomplished wordsmith. The novel’s prose is meticulous.” — Lionel Shriver, Financial Times
“THE WOLF BORDER ... weighs sense and sensuality, order and chaos, with sumptuous grace... But [the] plot too is gripping, propelled by some intriguing mysteries, a couple of conspiracies and a pulse-racing set-piece in which Rachel juggles baby, wolves, brother and vocation. Figuratively, of course.” — Independent
“Both uplifting and enthralling, THE WOLF BORDER is as much a hymn to the rugged beauty of the Cumbrian countryside as it is an exploration of the nature of wilderness and of the durability of the human spirit. Beautiful and quite stunning.” — Mail on Sunday
“A compelling, psychological drama...Ms Hall’s writing demands recognition. She has a golden touch, texturing her pages with rich metaphor and lyrical prose, especially when it comes to the natural world.” — The Economist
“[A] wonderfully assured page-turner...Worth reading for its style, wisdom and narrative pull, as well as for its exploration of wildness in many forms, human and lupine.” — Literary Review
“[H]er sense of place is visceral, the changing of seasons as dramatic as any of the plot’s set pieces.” — Aberdeen Press & Journal [Scotland]
“I was swept along by the stunning prose and compelling story.” — Woman & Home (UK)
“Regeneration in a multitude of guises is the mainstay of the novel; but rather than overworking the metaphor, Hall organically incorporates each and every instance into the narrative, adding a tensile strength to the base architecture upon which the story hangs … One of the fiction highlights of this year.” — The Observer
“[C]ompelling ... [a] gripping last third.” — New Statesman
“A sumptuous study of truth and trust...A magnificently metaphorical novel: an extended exploration of myth and motherhood—indeed the myth of motherhood...A feast of the finest fiction: a captivating and cannily crafted character-focused showcase of one of Britain’s most promising young novelists. — Tor.com
“A gifted writer, Hall offers a compelling, lyrical story rich in observation and symbolism.” — Kirkus Reviews
“What an achievement—so vivid, so visceral, so vital. I can see the wolves and the characters in the landscape like a movie in my head. Every time I picked it up, I struggled to put it down again. It’s a beautiful construction.” — Val McDermid
“The themes of Sarah Hall’s fifth novel, THE WOLF BORDER, interlock like gears: men and women together, family, the animal/human divide, the idea of wilderness...Dazzling is her ability to distill so much into the pages of this completely satisfying novel.” — New York Times Book Review
I imagine that THE WOLF BORDER — stylish, intelligent and a cracking read — will mark the point at which [Hall] stops being promising, and becomes something of a star.
The themes of Sarah Hall’s fifth novel, THE WOLF BORDER, interlock like gears: men and women together, family, the animal/human divide, the idea of wilderness. The wolf border — the line beyond which wolves roam freely — turns out to be porous, in each of us, and in the culture at large... More dazzling is her ability to distill so much into the pages of this completely satisfying novel — those big themes taken at a loose, loping run with a hint of menace.
New York Times Book Review
THE WOLF BORDER tracks Rachel through romantic and familial entanglements, childbirth and a series of dramatic events surrounding the wolf project in Cumbria. The plotting and characterization are crisp and effective, but perhaps the greatest pleasure is her prose.
A bold, sensuous novel.
The skills that Sarah Hall demonstrates in her highly anticipated fifth novel are significant and profound... So it is that the descriptions of altered or threatened landscapes for which she is celebrated ... convey beauty but resist the picturesque, instead posing questions about it.
Superb...Hall’s skill as a writer ‘borders’ on the magical. She captures with ease and alacrity the territory between the interior, Rachel’s thoughts and impressions, and the exterior, physical reality. She one-ups Joseph Conrad’s famous adage that writers should make us see. Passage after passage move seamlessly between the two realms and mesmerize with flawless imagery and astute observation...In 2013, Hall was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. THE WOLF BORDER reinforces such praise.
Where does freedom end and wildness begin? Self-preservation and intimacy? Sex and commitment? These are the gray borders Hall inspects...The real story is the one about one woman’s coming to terms, not only with her family, but with her own untameable nature.
An absorbing portrait of a woman and her conflicted relationships with family, homeland, and identity.
A thrilling tale of politics and power ... Compulsively absorbing and masterfully plotted, [THE WOLF BORDER] confirms Hall as one of our finest fiction writers.
This is a book overflowing with life and history, propelled by a writer who engages all the reader’s senses.
Vivid and visceral.
[A] wonderfully assured page-turner...Worth reading for its style, wisdom and narrative pull, as well as for its exploration of wildness in many forms, human and lupine.
[H]er sense of place is visceral, the changing of seasons as dramatic as any of the plot’s set pieces.
Aberdeen Press & Journal [Scotland]
I was swept along by the stunning prose and compelling story.
Sarah Hall is wonderful at pinpointing the push and pull of loyalties, the way a person can be undone or remade by the force of fresh emotion. She’s equally brilliant at tackling the notions of land ownership in an increasingly urbanised society... [A] graceful, visceral, utterly compelling read.
What an achievement—so vivid, so visceral, so vital. I can see the wolves and the characters in the landscape like a movie in my head. Every time I picked it up, I struggled to put it down again. It’s a beautiful construction.
Both uplifting and enthralling, THE WOLF BORDER is as much a hymn to the rugged beauty of the Cumbrian countryside as it is an exploration of the nature of wilderness and of the durability of the human spirit. Beautiful and quite stunning.
Regeneration in a multitude of guises is the mainstay of the novel; but rather than overworking the metaphor, Hall organically incorporates each and every instance into the narrative, adding a tensile strength to the base architecture upon which the story hangs … One of the fiction highlights of this year.
THE WOLF BORDER ... weighs sense and sensuality, order and chaos, with sumptuous grace... But [the] plot too is gripping, propelled by some intriguing mysteries, a couple of conspiracies and a pulse-racing set-piece in which Rachel juggles baby, wolves, brother and vocation. Figuratively, of course.
A compelling, psychological drama...Ms Hall’s writing demands recognition. She has a golden touch, texturing her pages with rich metaphor and lyrical prose, especially when it comes to the natural world.
A sumptuous study of truth and trust...A magnificently metaphorical novel: an extended exploration of myth and motherhood—indeed the myth of motherhood...A feast of the finest fiction: a captivating and cannily crafted character-focused showcase of one of Britain’s most promising young novelists.
[C]ompelling ... [a] gripping last third.
[A] writer of sensual, muscular prose about the liminal spaces between civilisation and wilderness ... Everything about this setting provides a perfect playground for Hall’s gorgeously visceral prose ... As the plot heads towards a crash, it’s hard to decide which is more frightening: the untameable, or to be tamed.
The Independent on Sunday
Make no mistake, Hall is an accomplished wordsmith. The novel’s prose is meticulous.
THE WOLF BORDER tracks Rachel through romantic and familial entanglements, childbirth and a series of dramatic events surrounding the wolf project in Cumbria. The plotting and characterization are crisp and effective, but perhaps the greatest pleasure is her prose.
An absorbing portrait of a woman and her conflicted relationships with family, homeland, and identity.
THE WOLF BORDER ... weighs sense and sensuality, order and chaos, with sumptuous grace... But [the] plot too is gripping, propelled by some intriguing mysteries, a couple of conspiracies and a pulse-racing set-piece in which Rachel juggles baby, wolves, brother and vocation. Figuratively, of course.
The themes of Sarah Hall's fifth novel, The Wolf Border, interlock like gears: men and women together, family, the animal/human divide, the idea of wilderness. The wolf border—the line beyond which wolves roam freely—turns out to be porous, in each of us and in the culture at large…Though Hall has largely moved away from the intense lyricism of her debut, Haweswater …she still shoots off a few sparks, a little gratuitous beauty. More dazzling is her ability to distill so much into the pages of this completely satisfying novel—those big themes taken at a loose, loping run with a hint of menace.
The New York Times Book Review - Regina Marler
The British writer Sarah Hall is too little known in the United States. Her fifth novel is further proof that this ought to change…Hall's language—both dense and spare—and her sharp handling of complex political and emotional terrain recalls the meticulous prose of Nadine Gordimer.
The New York Times - Carmela Ciuraru
