Winter of the Wolf (Amanda Willimott, Viking)

Winter of the Wolf is Amanda Willimott’s debut novel, inspired by the real-life trial of Gilles Garnier, who was convicted of being a werewolf in 1573. When Sidonie Montot travels from Paris to Dole to live with her aunt Eloise, her journey is mirrored by the sadistic witch-hunter Pierre de Lancre, who follows a rumour of werewolfery in the region. In the nearby forest lives Apolline Garnier, Gilles’s wife and a healer, who shares a tragic past with Sidonie. Through the relationship between Apolline and Sidonie, and a range of other interconnected narratives, Willimott’s novel illustrates a historical France gripped by superstition and the Inquisition, focusing the narrative on the lives of queer women. Historical accuracy has been balanced with a contemporary voice and the writing is clear and engaging. It is a relatively brisk novel, but Willimott has taken care to capture a complex era and subject, demonstrating a depth of research. For this reviewer, the novel laid the groundwork for a comparison between superstition and queerness, where representations of the fear of werewolves almost became a commentary on the historic mystification of queer lives. Those narratives were so close to one another it made me anticipate that interplay, but if the comparison was intentional, it came across a little shy in the execution. Although I found the queer storylines to be tentative and their development in the central narrative slightly underwhelming, there are two queer-romantic relationships that become safe spaces in this story. Winter of the Wolf is recommended for fans of historical fiction and readers of Madeline Miller and Sarah Waters.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Abe Theobald is a writer and graduate researcher at La Trobe University. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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