Wolfwood

by Marianna Baer Narrated by Annalyse McCoy

Overview

A teenage girl begins secretly forging paintings, plunging her into a dark and dangerous imaginary world



Indigo and her mother, once-famous artist Zoe Serra, have barely been scraping by since her mom's breakdown. When a gallery offers Zoe a revival show for her unfinished blockbuster series, Wolfwood, Indigo knows it's a crucial chance to finally regain stability. Zoe, however, mysteriously refuses. Desperate not to lose the opportunity, Indigo secretly takes up the brush herself.



It turns out, there might be a very good reason her mother wants nothing to do with Wolfwood.



Painting submerges Indigo into Wolfwood itself-a dangerous jungle where an army of grotesque, monstrous flora are in a violent battle with a band of girls. As Indigo enters Wolfwood again and again, the line between fantasy and reality blurs. It's a tenuous balancing act: keeping her forgery secret and her mind lucid, all while fighting her attraction to Kai, the son of the gallery owner.



And by the time Indigo realizes the true nature of the monsters she's up against, it might be too late-and the monsters might just win.

Editorial Reviews

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Readers looking for a character-driven story fraught with emotional suspense should pick this one up.

Booklist

Indigo is a bright, compassionate, and stubborn individual who is determined to rise out of her current poverty; readers will appreciate her grit. In addition, she is surrounded by large-as-life and colorful characters who support and challenge her in this entirely original story.

author of The Uninvited Tim Wynne-Jones

Wolfwood is many good things: a high-stakes mystery, a psychological thriller and a real-world story that teeters, precariously, on the edge of fantasy and horror. It’s a paean to the healing power of art and a love story: what will you do for love? What might you have to do in Wolfwood in order to be happy in the real world?

From the Publisher

Wolfwood is many good things: a high-stakes mystery, a psychological thriller and a real-world story that teeters, precariously, on the edge of fantasy and horror. It’s a paean to the healing power of art and a love story: what will you do for love? What might you have to do in Wolfwood in order to be happy in the real world?”—Tim Wynne-Jones, author of The Uninvited

“Baer’s storytelling is lushly descriptive and suspenseful; teasing details and clues keep the pages turning. Twisty and tangled.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Indigo is a bright, compassionate, and stubborn individual who is determined to rise out of her current poverty; readers will appreciate her grit. In addition, she is surrounded by large-as-life and colorful characters who support and challenge her in this entirely original story.”—Booklist

“Readers looking for a character-driven story fraught with emotional suspense should pick this one up.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Kirkus Reviews

2022-12-24
A New York City teenager discovers the dark secrets in her mother’s paintings.

Seventeen-year-old Indigo juggles jobs and school, trying to keep things afloat. Her mother, Zoe Serra, found acclaim through Wolfwood, her disturbing and violent series of watercolors. While the works were a gallery and art buyer’s delight, Zoe never completed the series. Circumstances and chronic poor health have made her a “gray pencil-sketch version of herself,” and knowing the impact of motherhood on her mother’s career, Indigo can’t help but blame herself. Motivated by a promised big payout and the possibility of bringing color back to her mother’s life, Indigo enthusiastically supports a fortuitous opportunity to revive the Wolfwood series. But with the deadline approaching and her mother balking, desperate Indigo steps in. Not only is the forgery morally dodgy, it’s dangerous too. As Indigo paints, the world of Wolfwood engulfs her. At first she writes these experiences off as sleep-deprived fever dreams, but when injuries manifest in the waking world, she understands there may be some credence to Zoe’s reluctance. Interspersed between Indigo’s present and her Wolfwood painting episodes are 1980s vignettes unveiling Zoe’s past, most ominously the real-life trauma behind her macabre paintings. First-person narration puts readers inside Indigo’s worries, anxiety, and guilt. Baer’s storytelling is lushly descriptive and suspenseful; teasing details and clues keep the pages turning even as some repetitive moments slow the pace. The Serras are White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast.

Twisty and tangled. (Fiction. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178421345
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	03/28/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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