Winner of:
2007 Hammett Prize for Crime Writing
2008 Relit Award
Amazon Ca / New Books In Canada Award
John Updike gave good advice when it comes to reviewing books. Rule #1 states that one should not blame the author for not achieving what he did not attempt. OK but sometimes the dustjacket and the synopsis engender a synaptic connection with another beloved read. The 
covers shown aren’t identical but the ingredients of snow,trees, flight through a Canadian winter, title printed in the same colour of red, and I’m expecting a read of the calibre of The Tenderness of Wolves.
Of course, I shouldn’t because The Outlander isn’t another Tenderness of Wolves. For a start we know the identity of the murderess from the beginning. She’s the young Stevie Nicks lookalike fleeing from her dead husband’s brothers. The mystery, therefore, isn’t a whodunnit – it’s a whydunnit and gradually during lulls in the chase the layers are peeled back to reveal all.
As an adventure yarn this is a enjoyable read. The widow’s journey through the wilderness and her eventual settling in the horse-rustling, wild-western but doomed town of Frank is well-paced and entertaining. The details are vivid and the pages turn quite rapidly. My advice is to read and enjoy the novel on this level because on closer inspection it doesn’t hold up as well.
Firstly and least significantly, just a pet hate of mine – toilet scenes. Why do authors insist on this? Verisimilitude isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Secondly, there is a feminist subtext in Mary’s back history. Her madness caused in part through being viewed as a possession, not an intelligent human being. Yet her survival depends on her finding male benefactors – not once, not twice, but three times. Admittedly she becomes more independent as the story progresses, yet, when she makes the most feminist gesture of them all (in the final sentence), I didn’t buy it. Thirdly, and this was the most frustrating element of the novel, Adamson, having carefully built up a chilling ruthlessness in Mary’s pursuers, brings the chase to an end in the most anti-climactic manner imaginable. These mixed messages adding up to a novel that is inconsistent with itself.
As indeed is this review! Having written what could be taken as a hachette job, I still recommend it. As an adventure yarn. A piece of escapist fiction. Perfect for snuggling up with on a cold winter’s day. A good read. Just not a brilliant one. Not The Tenderness of Wolves.
Thanks, Lizzy! I was craving for this book and wanted to order it to Poland, even though it would be better for me to wait for holidays, when I would probalbt be able to buy it myself. The though of something similar to “The Tenderness of Wolves” was too tempting. Now I’m not discouraged from reading, but I think I’d rather wait a few months:)
Oh thanks for this review Lizzy. I still want to give the Outlander a go at some point but am not ridiculously keen. I actually didnt like The Tenderness of Wolves maybe I need to read it again as I seem to be the only person who hasnt liked it I know!
Do you like this cover better? I certainly do:
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Outlander-Gil-Adamson/9780887847929-item.html
This is not a great book, but it is a good first novel.
I agree Kevin. My review came across more negatively than I intended but the more I thought about it, the more irritated I became. Shouldn’t the editor have ironed some of this out?
But as you said, a good first novel and I will read Adamson’s second, when it appears.
However, the Canadian cover does nothing for me. I wouldn’t have given the book a second glance.
I also think this novel has been over-rated — and I don’t think your review was “negative” at all. The book is an okay read, but not much more, from my perspective. I do like the ending, but that’s probably because Frank is part of my environment.
I LOVED “The Outlander.” I thought it was one of the best books I ever read. I found each character very interesting and loved their role in the book. If any of them, the lunatic, mary, the ridge runner any of them were absent it wouldnt have been as rich of a story. I especially liked the ending! Great, exciting,wonderful story!!
I am currently reading , “The Tenderness of Wolves” and I am not that thrilled with it. I dn’t find myself loving the characters and so far the plot is very slow and boring. I am about halfway done so I will hope to see the second half improve. I was looking for it to give me the same adventure the Outlander did but so far falls greatly short of doing that. – April