WOLF WINTER.

WOLF WINTER by CECILIA EKBÄCK.

There are six homesteads on Blackåsen Mountain. A day's journey away lies the empty town. It comes to life just once, in winter, when the Church summons her people through the snows. Then, even the oldest enemies will gather.

But now it is summer, and new settlers are come. It is their two young daughters who find the dead man, not half an hour's walk from their cottage. The father is away. And whether stubborn, or stupid, or scared for her girls, the mother will not let it rest.

To the wife who is not concerned when her husband does not come home for three days; to the man who laughs when he hears his brother is dead; to the priest who doesn't care; she asks and asks her questions, digging at the secrets of the mountain.

They say a wolf made those wounds. But what wild animal cuts a body so clean?
- Back Cover Blurb

Swedish Lapland, June 1717
'But how far is it?'
- First Sentence; Part One

The bishop shook his head. 'We have such a problem. All over Sweden. The country is being torn asunder, and the women fight against their status, striving to sit underneath the pulpit, God help us.'
- Memorable Moment; Page 58

SOURCE ... On my TBR pile for that long I cannot remember.

READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No.

MY THOUGHTS ... With a plot and characters I'm having trouble remembering a mere, what, two/three month on? Oh dear! This doesn't bode at all well. Thank goodness for the copious amount of (often one word) prompts scribbled on a post-it-note that I invariably stick in the front of each book for just such an eventuality. 

Atmospheric and brooding I'll give you.The what I can only describe as lack of emotion when it came to the narrative something that took some getting used to for sure but, do you know, when I did get used to it I kind of liked. 

Other than that ...

A combining of harsh realities and ethereal other worldliness. A mix of utopia and dystopia. Caught between too many genres; historical fiction, murder mystery, family drama, ghost (some might say horror) story. Don't get me wrong, combinations of these CAN and do work its just that in this instance it felt all a bit, what, disjointed?

Why exactly did the newly arrived Maija take it upon herself to become some kind of Miss Marple and investigate a crime (a crime that not only threatened her safety but the feet of her daughter)? How exactly is  her husband (absent for much of the story) cursed (if indeed he is actually cursed)? Do you know, after awhile I actually gave up caring. 
  
Perhaps more to do with me than the author, I'm afraid my knowledge of Swedish history is pretty scant to say the least and therefore a little more background information woven into the story would have gone a long way in my understanding the actions/motives of certain of the characters; characters that as it was I couldn't connect with let alone root for or even invest in, the male ones of which (perhaps with the exception of the priest) all morphed into one another with little to distinguish them. 

Featuring paedophilia. An aspect of the story I particularly struggled with ... and not just for of the obvious reasons. Its difficult to explain (my sincere apologies if in my clumsy attempt to do so I upset/offend anyone) but I felt the whole matter was dealt with what to me felt like a very 'modern' approach to abuse rather than an eighteenth century one. 

And these are just my major niggles about the book, to have listed all of the minor ones ... Well, lets just leave it at this would have been a much longer post.