Amy Rowland is a promising literary voice and her writing made up for where the plot and character development lacked. While Rachel, the central figure, was interesting, I think getting a glimpse into other perspectives might have added some much-needed diversity to the narrative. The book felt a bit long at times, and I kept hoping for a little more tension to move it along. Despite these criticisms, readers who appreciate rich prose and introspective fiction will likely enjoy the world Rowland has created.

Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin Books for accepting my request to read and review Inside the Wolf.

Overall an interesting story, however, long. Repeatedly the characters pretend their business is private and the whole town is oblivious. This is not the case; the townspeople all know each others secrets. I was bored with this concept before I picked up the book.

The story centers around a southern small town, and the one that got away and came back. Rachel fights demons when she returns, those include external and internal. She carries guilt, secrets and lies. While home an incident occurs that is similar to one from her childhood. This prompts her to face herself metaphorically.

All-in-all, the ending fell flat and short.

SEE FULL REVIEW ON ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION WEBSITE:
"Firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death for American children in 2020, according to the National Institute of Health. Author Amy Rowland addresses a harrowing subset of this national tragedy, child-on-child gun violence, in her probing work of Southern fiction “Inside the Wolf.” Through the eyes of a woman who has shunned her roots, Rowland excavates the generational impact of two shootings — 30 years apart — in a small North Carolina town, while taking a deep look into the culture that allows this tragedy to proliferate..."

https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/displaced-southerner-faces-troubled-past-in-inside-the-wolf/B5QNSQYCYBBZRF7STWJFLW24FI/

3.5⭐

“We are born innocent. Then life has its way with us.”

Forty-two-year-old Rachel Ruskin returns to her hometown of Shiloh, North Carolina after a disappointing development brings her career in academics to a standstill. Unemployed and alone after the death of her parents in a recent accident and her brother’s suicide some months earlier and now back in her childhood home in the farming community she grew up in, Rachel is haunted by the ghosts of her past and the memories of a traumatic incident from her childhood that resulted in the death of her best friend. Rachel sees that not much has changed in the community – the stories, the way of life, the attitude toward hunting, gun ownership and much more. When tragedy rocks the community, Rachel decides to take the initiative to exact change in the way her community functions in terms of guns and safety, especially in the case of children. That means taking ownership of past actions and reconciling with the secrets that haunted her own family. But in the Southern community set its ways, proud of the traditions, culture and beliefs that have been passed down from generations, how well will Rachel’s efforts be accepted?

“That we create these alternative lives for ourselves so we won’t have to face the pain and disappointment of reality….. Often without realizing. Even if we do recognize our own life-lie, we can’t necessarily change it. Acknowledging the lie might alter the course of your life, or destroy it.”

Timely and relevant, Inside the Wolf by Amy Rowland is an emotionally heavy read. The author tackles sensitive issues with compassion. The characters and the setting are well-depicted as is Rachel’s internal conflict. While I appreciated the premise of the novel, I found the ending a tad rushed. I also felt that Rachel’s character development stagnated after a point and needed to be explored in more depth. However, the author has a powerful voice and the writing is beautiful and expressive. I would be interested in exploring more of Amy Rowland’s work.

Many thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a chilling and powerful read.

When Rachel was a child, her best friend was killed from a firearm accident. Twenty years later, Rachel returns to her small, southern, religious, gun toting township to tend to her family's farm. When another child is killed due to a firearm accident, and once again, no one is held responsible, Rachel decides that someone needs to act.

The township does not take kindly to being told they handle their firearms responsibly.

This book was not my usual genre, but I devoured it in a day. I found it to be gripping, powerful and tragic.

I found parts of the book hard to follow. I had reread passages a few times to pick up the gist of the story.
Rachel discovers that as far as she ran away forces pulled her back home and she has to salvage what’s left.
I found Rachel to be peculiar and hard to pin down, even at the end I still didn’t really know her.
I did like the parts about Virginia Dare since that mystery has intrigued me for decades.

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This was beautifully written with a bit of a mystical quality but with a strong message of how families can come together in crisis.

Rachel has returned to North Carolina after years of being away from home. Her life has become tragedy over the past year - her brother completed suicide and then both her parents died in a car accident. When she comes home, she starts to grapple with a tragedy that rocked her childhood. When a similar incident occurs, Rachel tries to
Push her community to grapple with gun violence.

The story here just wasn’t for me. I think a lot of it was writing style, which is a personal preference. I’ve never read any of Rowland’s books before so others who’ve enjoyed her other works, should enjoy this one!

Rachel Ruskin has returned to her North Carolina tobacco farm where she grew up. Loaded down with grief and guilt she is at a crossroads in her life. Her parents are gone, killed in a car accident and her beloved brother has taken his own life. Alone and denied tenure at the New York university she had escaped to, she returns to her roots.

Southern mores, gun control and racism are all alive and well there. Can Rachel come to terms with her collective feelings and find a place of redemption and absolution for her past? Can she go home again?

This book will be published in July, 2023.

This novel is a prerelease and will need some more editing work. I found it very hard to determine just exactly what the author was trying to say. Family secrets, guns and racism all factor but it was hard to figure out the point.

Inside the wolf - Amy Roland

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

In this story a teacher in NYC doesn't get tenure so she returns to her family home (which her parents left her when they died.

Along with the home, she also receives the family's struggling tobacco farm.

As the story proceeds, we learn a few dark secrets about the main character; secrets that the people in this small town are already know the truth about - the secret that Rachelle Ruskin has kept to herself for decades.

Have the town people forgiven her for lying to them? Can Rachel learn to forgive herself, for allowing her brother to take responsibility for an accident that deeply impacted how the community as well as her self-image?

Read this wonderfully well-written, atmospheric novel to discover the answers to these questions and more!

I really enjoyed this book, both the present situations as well as when the author revisited the past. I immediately purchased her other novel, The Transcriptionist after I completed this story.

Until next time, when you chose to judge yourself, remember to give yourself at East as much leeway as you would give someone else who finds themselves in a similar situation....

I wanted to love this but I just ended up liking it. I think the author tried to fit WAAAAAY too much into a short novel so what did work only halfway worked, there just wasn't enough TIME to build up.

I really enjoyed the fact that this read explored so many topics that are associated with southern life. But I also don't think there was enough time spent exploring each theme. I wish there was more about the race and identity topics. Overall, I did enjoy parts of this book and felt triggered by some.

The premise of this book has incredible potential. Exploring themes of Southern myth making that hides the truth- I would say sign me up. It centers around a childhood gun accident and its long last effects. It’s sadly something too many of us, especially in the South, know of well. But this just feels unrealized and clumsy. It tries to take on so many complex issues- guns, race, home, identity, religion, the nature of truth- and it ends up feeling scattered. The way the author approaches race especially feels like an afterthought. Jewel and Palmer could have been much more fleshed out and realized. I would have loved if more Black American folklore was incorporated. Ultimately, what made me finish this book was the hope for more folklore (I did enjoy the Witch Bride a lot) and caring about what happened to Tom.

Wow. This book is intense and heartbreaking. It's about the secrets between family and small towns and the trauma that leads to. Very powerful!!

Triggers:
Gun death
Suicide
Child death

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!