National Reading Group Month Great Group Reads selection
[Helen Benedict] has emerged as one of our most thoughtful and
provocative writers of war literature. --David Abrams, author of
Fobbit and Brave Deeds, at the Quivering Pen
No one writes with more authority or cool-eyed compassion about the
experience of women in war both on and off the battlefield than Helen
Benedict. . . . Wolf Season is more than a novel for our times; it
should be required reading. --Elissa Schappell, author of Use Me
and Blueprints for Building Better Girls
Fierce and vivid and full of hope, this story of trauma and resilience,
of love and family, of mutual aid and solidarity in the aftermath of a
brutal war is nothing short of magic. . . . To read these pages is to be
transported to a world beyond hype and propaganda to see the human cost
of war up close. This is not a novel that allows you to walk away
unchanged. --Cara Hoffman, author of Be Safe I Love You and
Running
A novel of love, loss, and survival, Wolf Season delves into the
complexities and murk of the after-war with blazing clarity. You will
come to treasure these characters for their strengths and foibles alike.
Helen Benedict has delivered yet again, and contemporary war literature
is much the better for it. --Matt Gallagher, author of Kaboom:
Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War and Youngblood
After a hurricane devastates a small town in upstate New York, the lives
of three women and their young children are irrevocably changed. Rin, an
Iraq War veteran, tries to protect her blind daughter and the three
wolves under her care. Naema, a widowed doctor who fled Iraq with her
wounded son, faces life-threatening injuries and confusion about her
feelings for Louis, a veteran and widower harboring his own secrets and
guilt. Beth, who is raising a troubled son, waits out her marine
husband's deployment in Afghanistan, equally afraid of him coming home
and of him never returning at all. As they struggle to maintain their
humanity and find hope, their war-torn lives collide in a way that will
affect their entire community.
Helen Benedict is the author of seven novels, including Sand
Queen, a Publishers Weekly Best Contemporary War Novel; five works of
nonfiction, including The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women
Serving in Iraq; and the play The Lonely Soldier Monologues. She
lives in New York.
