The Wolf Road is a powerful debut, beautifully describing the wilderness and the simplicity and hardships of living in it. Even in the good times, there is a constant edge to Elka’s existence, that one step behind her may be her death; be it from nature or the man she used to call daddy.

The narrative is written with an accent, something that’s hard to do successfully. I never found Elka’s manner of speaking difficult to follow and was soon sucked into her world.

There’s enough hints to get that this is set in a future Canada, for as much as it feels that it is in the past. Disaster reverts civilisation, even humanity. Elka doesn’t really know much about the Damn Stupid, but its impact is seen in the landscape. Pieces suggest there was another world war, that nukes were detonated, maybe it was the Russians, maybe not.

One thing that is clear, is this new world is a dangerous one. As Elka travels north, she stays away from the roads, keeping to the trees. She prefers to risk it with the animals who will only attack for a reason than the humans who are unpredictable. When her travels must intersect with human life, her fears are usually vindicated, yet she does make one unlikely friend. Or maybe two.

I do have one little niggle about this book, and it’s something that is revealed at the end so I don’t want to go into too much detail. I really loved everything else about this book, so the fact that one thing didn’t fit isn’t going to put me off. Instead I’m convincing myself it comes down to the infallibility of memory. There’s plenty that Elka misremembered, so maybe her memories can’t be trusted at all.

Review copy provided by publisher.