Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance

I’ve really grown to appreciate more and more the books I read that make my heart happy.  What Ruth Emmie Lang has written here is like a love letter to everything charming, innocent, lovely and wondrous about life.  At its heart, it’s a love story, not only in the classical sense, but also a love story between man and nature, the bond between family members, both biological and chosen, and those between humans and animals.  The centerpiece of this story, told in six parts, or “books”, over the course of almost 50 years, is Weylyn Grey, an enigmatic and curious figure who we first meet as a young boy being raised by a wolf pack after losing his parents in a tragic accident.  There he meets 11-yr old Mary Penlore, the daughter of a butcher, who has come to deliver meat to the pack.  Having lost her own mother, she and Weylyn forge a mutual understanding and friendship that forms the basis of the reader’s journey through the book.  Her affinity for him and the wolves he lives among gives her a unique insight into him that guides the course of events throughout.  It isn’t a smooth journey, mind you.  There are lots of fits and starts to their story, as life and circumstance move them along, sometimes together, sometimes apart. 

A constant throughout this magical realism tale is Weylyn coming to terms with the special powers that seem to be tied to his emotional frame of mind at any given moment, whether frustration, sadness or even extreme happiness.  His inability to control these unusual occurrences, generally involving weather and nature, causes him to question his ability to fully live as a human and experience the normal relationships with those whose lives are intertwined with his.  His impulse to protect others, while noble in intent, often causes him to run away from situations, rather than stay and work through them.  His tale is told mostly through the eyes of these people, rather than Weylyn himself.  Each book is a look into his journey from boy to man, and is told in a clever rotating two-character narrative that fleshes out what was happening in his life at the time by those who know him best. These are interspersed with current day interludes, told through the eyes of a spirited, but wise boy named Roarke.  Along the way, we meet a host of wonderful characters, both human and animal, whose own stories are as fascinating and enjoyable as Weylyn’s and Mary’s.  Ultimately, the story belongs to these two, though, and it’s a delightful, heartwarming, magical, feel-good tale, full of adventure, truckloads of humor and charm, and all around goodness.  I highly recommend it.

★★★★★ ❤️