Only one book truly captivated me this passed summer. ”Tell the Wolves I'm Home," by Carol Rifka Brunt is a gripping, emotional novel set in 1987 in a suburban town. June Elbus has always been a bit of an outcast from her seemingly perfect sister and put together parents, her peers, but the one person she always feels connected to is her uncle Finn. But when Finn dies of AIDS she is left alone. Until she sees a man outside Finns funeral, the man her mother curses under her breath for killing Finn and the same man who wants to meet June. The two begin to meet and June learns more about her uncle from his hidden boyfriend Toby than she ever knew. One of the reoccurring themes in this book is time, first June never has enough, then she tries to escape it, and finally learns to embrace it.
To begin with, in the start of the book June feels she never has enough time, mainly to spend with Finn. For example, she, her sister and her mother go to New York City, where Finn lives, every Sunday. He has begun to paint a portrait of June's sister Greta and her. As he paints them he grows sicker and June wants to go more often because she knows his sickness is cutting back their time. But physical difference separates them and June is restricted to Sundays. Also, June is not aware of how little time she has left with Finn. "What Greta said- that she knew about Finn being sick before I did- was probably true. She wasn’t there when I found out.” This quote from June recounting her discovery of Finn’s state illustrates that because her family hid Finn’s illness from her, June, who’s feelings towards him appear the deepest, had the least time with him. Because of this June isolates herself from her family apart from Finn, who her thoughts rarely stray from.
Secondly, after Finn’s passing June tries to escape time, possibly because time is moving too fast for her and time is forcing her to carry on without Finn. An example would be the woods behind her school. In these woods June imagines she could be in any time period, even her favorite, medieval times. June states that, “If I had a lot of money, I would buy acres of woods. I would put a wall around them and live there like it was another time.” The quotation demonstrates how the woods are a sacred place for June where she can go to run from time and all of its pressing matters. Furthermore, June and Finn used to go to the Cloisters often. There, June would lose herself in the beautiful art of centuries past. She loves the Cloisters not only because it held time with Finn but because it held time at a serene standstill.
Lastly, at the conclusion of the novel June learns to embrace the present and celebrate the past. To begin with, after Toby died the old June would have continued hiding from time and hating it deep inside her woods. However, after the tragic occasion she chooses to celebrate Finn and Toby’s relationship by putting Toby’s ashes with the body of her uncle. Also, the portrait of Greta and June is given to them but June does not grieve every time she lays eyes on it. Instead she adds streaks of gold to their hair and a necklace. She realizes the past does not have to remain where it is, if it did there would be no such thing as the present.
June Elbus is a throughly intense character who enchanted me by watching her struggle through time, first it slipped through her fingers, then hiding from it, and ending up with fond memories of it. Though the story was continually sad it ended up seeming melancholy with June’s bittersweet thoughts and memories of her uncle and the man who he loved in secret. No one incredibly close to me has ever passed away but if the inevitable time comes, I’ll go through my own stages and I can hope to come out the other side as wise as June.
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