Nadya (Wolf Chronicles) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Pat Murphy (Author) "Until Dmitri was a young boy, his village was in Poland..." (more)
Key Phrases: Painted Wolf, Slim Face, Peter Akin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Nadya embodies the 19th century idea of the Other: she is a woman, and she is an animal. Comfortable in her skin(s), a child of nature in many ways, she cannot fit into the artificial structure and mores of 19th century America. Although Nadya responds without artifice or duplicity to others (Rufus Jones, Elizabeth Metcalf), the priceless honesty she offers is undervalued and rejected. Nadya's search for a place in which she can safely be herself, woman and wolf, takes her across the plains, deserts, and mountains of western America. Fleeing to the utmost extremity of the continent, she stops and stands her ground on the Oregon shore. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
A female werewolf roams the Old West in this deeply absorbing dark fantasy from Murphy (The City, Not Long After), whose The Falling Woman won the 1987 Nebula Award for Best Novel. While the story kicks off in rural Poland, it soon moves to the American frontier and the descendants of the Old World's hardy, furry peasants?foremost among them, Nadya Rybak, who tries to accommodate both her human and her lupine natures. The heart of the novel consists of Nadya's trek in the mid-1800s from Missouri to California. Having come through great personal tragedy brought about by a trusting nature and her own burgeoning sexuality, Nadya befriends the more cultured Elizabeth and the prepubescent Jenny. Together, the three young women fight their way across the swollen rivers, parched deserts and frosty mountains of the vast American frontier. En route, they encounter rattlesnakes, Indians, the remains of the cannibalistic Donner party and Elizabeth's repressed sexual urges, which lead to an affair between her and Nadya. While Murphy's description of the trek sometimes reads more like a historical travelogue than a fantasy, it features welcome bursts of supernatural flourishes. Especially fine are the passages dealing with the Cheyenne, in which the author highlights the strengths of Nadya's werewolf heritage by contrasting it with the Indians' spirituality. With its strong heroines and passionate storyline filled with romance, adventure and dangers both physical and moral, this novel will appeal to a wide array of readers, not just those who shiver with delight when the moon is full and the wolf's bane blooms.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812551885
• ISBN-13: 978-0812551884
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #610,074 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! Highly Recommended!, November 21, 1998

By A Customer

Nadya is an action adventure book with a strong woman at its center. It's also a historical romance, set in the Old West. Oh, and it's also a werewolf tale. Nadya has it all, and Pat Murphy is a wonderful writer. The characters are people you want to know, the action is exciting, and a whole new world opens up with every chapter. An all around good read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The moon outshines the brightest of stars., March 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Nadya: The Wolf Chronicles (Hardcover)

Sometimes in our lives there comes along a book so enticing, that all others pale in comparison. Nadya is woman, wolf, truly wilderness incarnate; Pat Murphy invites us to explore a world far beyond our everyday experiences. In this book, we have the epic tale of a woman's struggles to find acceptance as she faces deception, betrayal and rejection. A wolf by the full moon she runs free of the toils she encounters as a human, but even the wolf has hardships it must face.

Pat Murphy takes the reader on a journey rich in detail, strong in emotion, and often biting in its satire of American society. Nadya's journey becomes our own as we travel not across the land, but across the mind, exploring her innermost beliefs, fears, hopes, and dreams. Through Murphy's extraordinary book, the reader is given the chance to experience a life free from the constraints of society and walk away with a piece of the wilderness, a piece of the wolf, in their own hearts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lovely!, August 22, 2002

By	girlboy (suburban town, NY) - See all my reviews

Nadya is a wonderful book. It is the story of a young woman who happens to be a werewolf looking for love and herself. She explores animal/human and woman/man binaries. She approaches love openly, without defining herself as any sexuality. The book is full of wonderful imagery and strong characters such as Dmitri's school-teacher in Russia, to the young, wild girl Jenny, to the Indian chief and the settlers in the home Nadya finally finds. I would recomend this book to ages 14 and up for anyone struggling with who they are and what others would like them to be.