Holiday Gift Guide: City Wolves by Dorris Heffron

Though City Wolves (Blue Butterfly Books) has a lot going on, at its core, Dorris Heffron’s latest novel is about the secret lives of wolves and how they relate to humans. Fascinating stuff. There’s more to this historical novel, of course. Quite a bit. It’s the entirely fictional story of Meg Wilkinson, Canada’s first woman veterinarian. And though the life she has chosen provides inspiration at every turn, she opts to take the best of it from the sled dogs she encounters when her work and her travels take her to Canada’s frozen north.

Though City Wolves could have used a sharp edit, (and the author’s bio’s reference to a “fiction novel” almost saw this reader defenestrate the book even before page one) Heffron delivers a story of ideas and heart.

Those with an interest in or passion for women’s issues or Canada’s history -- or both -- will enjoy City Wolves.