Be My Wolff

“Emma Richler’s first novel in twelve years, Be My Wolff, cannot be read casually. . . . If you skim through, you will not give this tantalizing tale the justice it deserves. The detail is the novel. . . . Love—a common theme in fiction—is described in a heart-wrenchingly honest way. Richler doesn’t hold anything back. . . . The word Richler uses to describe the process of creating the novel is the same feeling you will experience reading it—‘intense.’ A few words with the author is all you need to see exactly how this book was made; it could only come to exist in such a complex and creative mind.” —Blair Mlotek, Canadian Jewish News

“A powerful story.” —49th Shelf

“An otherwise heartbreaking love story, Be My Wolff keeps the reader at a distance through its style, its interest in scientific fact and in folklore, and its turn always to some story other than the one at hand. [T]he third-person narration is roving and kaleidoscopic. . . . The fractal structure and the timeless feeling the novel creates turned this reader into a pattern seeker, treating all things as meaningfully pointing to some whole. I came to feel deep affection for these Wolffs trapped in their luckless loop, because in all of its parts, Be My Wolff is an exploration of the deep, animal bonds between people. . . . [A]n astounding delight.” —Liz Harmer, author of The Amateurs, Literary Review of Canada

“Erudite, sexy, richly textured and packed with delights. Like Salinger’s Glass family or Wes Anderson’s Tenenbaums, the Wolff siblings seem to crash in on the terrestrial world from some more eccentric orbit.” —Garth Risk Hallberg, author of City on Fire 

“[J]ewel-like bits of fable and fact are interwoven with modern-day conversations and the couple’s thoughts. . . . This is heavyweight, challenging fare from Canadian/British novelist Richler, difficult to categorize and even more difficult to shake off. . . . [S]killed literary navigators will appreciate the challenge.” —Library Journal
 
“Richler’s writing style is exuberant. . . . [T]he best parts of the narrative lie in the quiet moments when Rachel and Zach confront their questionable brand of love and the tumultuous effect it has on their lives and loved ones.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Rachel, an artist, and Zach, a former pugilist . . . speak in a crackling lingo that’s rich in languages, history, fairy tales, memories and romantic love. The many, centuries-spanning, highly imagined worlds Richler recreates here . . . depart from and heighten Rachel and Zach’s present-day narrative.” —Booklist