Tell The Wolves I'm Home

Tell The Wolves I'm Home

Author	Carol Rifka Brunt
Language	English
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	June 1, 2012
Pages	360
ISBN	978-0812982855

Tell The Wolves I'm Home is the debut novel of American writer Carol Rifka Brunt,^[1] published by Random House in 2012. It follows the life of a girl whose homosexual uncle had died of AIDS in the 1980s, and the subsequent friendship she develops with his boyfriend.^[2][3]

Plot

June Elbus is a 14-year-old girl living in Westchester in the 1980s. She is in love with her gay uncle, Finn Weiss, a fact she is scared to admit even to herself. Finn is dying of AIDS. Being a professional painter, he asks June and her elder sister Greta to sit for a portrait, which he completes a few days before his death. At his funeral, June notices a thin man hanging around. She learns that he is Finn's boyfriend, Toby. She is warned against him by her family, particularly her mother, who forbids June from having any contact with him.

One day Toby delivers a message to June, asking her to meet him at a train station nearby. Although hesitant at first, she meets up with him there. They ride to Finn's apartment, where Toby now lives alone. He gives her some of Finn's possessions, which he left behind specially for her. One of these include a book with a message to June from Finn, asking her to take care of Toby as he has nobody.

Meanwhile, the media comes to know of the portrait, which Finn named "Tell the Wolves I'm Home". Recognizing its monetary value, June's mother moves it to a bank vault and gives the keys to June and Greta. June visits it often, and notices there are additions to the painting: black buttons on her shirt and a skull behind Greta's hand, which she realizes is drawn by Greta herself. June too paints on the portrait, adding streaks of golden to their hair.

Over the months, Toby and June meet frequently, and the two become close. She realizes that much of what she has heard of Toby from her mother is false and comes from her mother's resentment of Finn. They were very close during their childhood but ever since leaving home, their lives had become very different: while she became a suburban accountant, he became a globetrotting artist, which she always aspired to be. June reveals Finn's message to Toby, who in turn says that he received a similar one, asking him to take care of June. He also tells her that he painted the buttons on the portrait moments after Finn's death, to grant his dying wish to see "more detail" in it.

Meanwhile, at home, Greta and June find it hard to get along. Greta comes to know of her meetings with Toby and taunts her for it, straining the sisters' already damaged relationship. Greta plays Bloody Mary in their school's presentation of South Pacific. Impressed by Greta's performance, her drama teacher suggests she act in Broadway, a prospect she is not too keen on. However, she is pressured by her mother to take a shot at it. Troubled, Greta takes to excessive drinking and smoking. She often lies drunk in the woods near her school, where June is forced to rescue her from more than once.

On the day of her show, Greta asks June to meet her in the woods after the play. The same day, June and her mother visit the bank vault, where her mother is shocked to see the additions to the painting. June takes full responsibility for it, and is grounded. During the show, June realizes that Greta is drunk. Since she cannot meet her in the woods because of being grounded, she calls Toby and asks him to bring Greta home. That night two policemen visit their house, bringing Greta along with them. They tell the Elbuses that they arrested her, along with Toby, on seeing him carry her from the woods. June's mother recognizes Toby. Greta lies that she befriended Toby and invited him to the after-show party because she felt sorry for him. The policemen leave, taking Toby along with them.

That night, Greta tells June that she was jealous of Finn for being more important to June than she was, which was why Greta grew distant from her. On Finn's death, she thought things would be like they were when the two of them were younger, but by then June was occupied with Toby. June realizes that Greta, like Toby, has nobody, and the two reconcile.

For days after his arrest, June is unable to contact Toby. She finally finds that he was admitted to a hospital due to his rapidly deteriorating health. She goes there to find him very weak. As they talk, June finally admits to Toby that Finn was her first love. She also realizes that Toby is her second. She takes him to her house, telling her parents everything about him. June hears her mother apologize to Toby. With the two of them in the room, Toby dies.

That night, June sees her mother paint a necklace on June's neck and a ring to Greta's hand in the portrait. The next day, an art inspector tells them that the portrait can be restored to its original form to undo the damage. When it is returned to the Elbuses, June notices that although Toby's, Greta's and her additions were removed, her mother's necklace and ring have been left untouched.

Writing

Brunt says the inspiration for Tell The Wolves I'm Home came from an idea of "a dying uncle painting a final portrait of his niece".^[4] It started out as a short story, which she began expanding after receiving a grant from the Arts Council of England.^[2] While Brunt shares some similarities with the novel's protagonist, she has stressed that the story itself is not autobiographical.^[4] Publishers Weekly noted that Tell the Wolves I'm Home "has young adult–novel qualities, with moral conflicts that resolve themselves too easily and characters nursing hearts of gold."^[5] Brunt herself recognized this, stating in an interview that "When I first started writing it, I thought it could end up as either YA or adult", but ultimately felt it was an adult book.^[4]

Reception

Tell The Wolves I'm Home was received positively by critics. Sam of The Wall Street Journal called it a "tremendously moving debut novel [that imbues] June with the disarming candor of a child and the melancholy wisdom of a heart-scarred adult."^[6] Writing for Paste, Carla Jean Whitley gave it an 8 out of a possible 10, calling it an "immensely satisfying tale ... offer[ing] insight into the complicated web of human emotions."^[7] Samantha Nelson of The A.V Club graded it an A- and said the book "provides an earnest look at the burdens of choice and the fear of missed opportunities", but disliked the change in narratives from present-day June to future June.^[8]

References