"Work of Wolves"

At a recent library meeting I learned that several of my fellow public library directors had read the novel, “The Work of Wolves”, by Kent Meyers, a literature professor at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Following their recommendations, I checked out the book from our library’s collection. From the first paragraph, I was captivated by the author’s beautifully-worded descriptions of the Dakota landscape. He is especially talented at letting the reader enter into and reflect upon the thoughts and feelings of the characters.

For a long book—over 400 pages--the plot-line is very simple but the intensity of the story grows with each new development and the reader is pulled into the flow of events and he presses on to learn what will happen next.

Set in rural South Dakota at the turn of the century, 14-year-old Carson Fielding lives on the family ranch near a Lakota Indian reservation. Fielding learns the love of horses from his grandfather who taught him how to select and train them. At an auction, he buys a horse culled from the herd of the region’s largest land owner, Magnus Yarborough, a bullish and angry man.

Years later, Fielding, now 26 years old and a skilled and respected horse trainer, grudgingly agrees to train Magnus's horses and teach the rich man’s wife to ride. As Fielding becomes disaffected with the power-hungry Magnus, he also grows attracted to the rancher's wife, Rebecca.

Although this relationship remains platonic, Magnus becomes convinced that the couple is having an affair and in a bizarre act of revenge, he hides and starves the horses Fielding has been training.

Two teenagers, Earl Walks Along, a Lakota Indian math whiz who is trying to educate himself out of the reservation, and Willi Schubert, a German exchange student with a troubled family history, discover the abused animals and tell Fielding about them. The three men plot to save the horses and a violent chain of events ensues that unsettles the quiet reservation border town in South Dakota.

As in his other books, “Light in the Crossing” and “The River Warren”, the author weaves a compelling story that include suspense, surprises, romance, conflicts and animosities, and triumphs and sorrows. The book, “The Work of Wolves” is a meditation on moral complexity---on doing the right thing when there are only degrees of violence and losses to choose from.

The book is reminiscent America’s first “cowboy novel” written over 100 years ago by Owen Wister. That book, “The Virginian”, has the same set of values ---courage and pure-heartedness-- in conflict with a cunning villain.
At a recent library meeting I learned that several of my fellow public library directors had read the novel, “The Work of Wolves”, by Kent Meyers, a literature professor at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Following their recommendations, I checked out the book from our library’s collection. From the first paragraph, I was captivated by the author’s beautifully-worded descriptions of the Dakota landscape. He is especially talented at letting the reader enter into and reflect upon the thoughts and feelings of the characters.

For a long book—over 400 pages--the plot-line is very simple but the intensity of the story grows with each new development and the reader is pulled into the flow of events and he presses on to learn what will happen next.

Set in rural South Dakota at the turn of the century, 14-year-old Carson Fielding lives on the family ranch near a Lakota Indian reservation. Fielding learns the love of horses from his grandfather who taught him how to select and train them. At an auction, he buys a horse culled from the herd of the region’s largest land owner, Magnus Yarborough, a bullish and angry man.

Years later, Fielding, now 26 years old and a skilled and respected horse trainer, grudgingly agrees to train Magnus's horses and teach the rich man’s wife to ride. As Fielding becomes disaffected with the power-hungry Magnus, he also grows attracted to the rancher's wife, Rebecca.

Although this relationship remains platonic, Magnus becomes convinced that the couple is having an affair and in a bizarre act of revenge, he hides and starves the horses Fielding has been training.

Two teenagers, Earl Walks Along, a Lakota Indian math whiz who is trying to educate himself out of the reservation, and Willi Schubert, a German exchange student with a troubled family history, discover the abused animals and tell Fielding about them. The three men plot to save the horses and a violent chain of events ensues that unsettles the quiet reservation border town in South Dakota.

As in his other books, “Light in the Crossing” and “The River Warren”, the author weaves a compelling story that include suspense, surprises, romance, conflicts and animosities, and triumphs and sorrows. The book, “The Work of Wolves” is a meditation on moral complexity---on doing the right thing when there are only degrees of violence and losses to choose from.

The book is reminiscent America’s first “cowboy novel” written over 100 years ago by Owen Wister. That book, “The Virginian”, has the same set of values ---courage and pure-heartedness-- in conflict with a cunning villain.