Reviewed by Rod McLary
The Belly of a Wolf is a verse novel – a relatively uncommon form of novel but one with distinctive characteristics. It combines the narrative strength of a novel with the stylistic and rhythmic characteristics of poetry creating a powerful emotional and often a fully immersive experience for the reader. Verse novels are popular with younger readers as they can be less daunting to read than a full-length ‘traditional’ novel and more immediate in their emotional impact.
And that is exactly what this new verse novel provides – an emotional impact delivered through free verse. The heart of The Belly of a Wolf is the suicide of Wolf at age 15 and the grief, loss and guilt experienced by her best friend Red as she struggles to understand the reasons behind Wolf’s death. The novel is narrated by Red in her 15-year-old voice and charts both the present time and the history of their friendship.
‘Red’ and ‘Wolf’ first came in contact with each other aged five at prep school when they were selected to play a part in the end-of-year production of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. And as Red says our roles in life/settled by the play. She called me Red/I called her Wolf’ [15].
Stricken by grief and guilt because she did not know that Wolf was contemplating suicide – let alone the reasons which led Wolf to that decision, Red retreats to her room away from family, friends and school. The rest of the world never really mattered/until it did/Until it was all I had left. [16]. But reality intrudes as it always does and after six months Red has to return to school where she is seen as ‘the friend of the dead girl’. Gradually Red is absorbed into school life finding a space for herself and her grief in a disused music room – where she can protect it from being eroded by other interactions and activities; where she can escape Wolf whispers in my ear/ that I have forgotten her [110].
Other students reach out to her – Music Girl who wants to be her friend and Popular Boy who wants Red to be his girlfriend – and over time, her grief becomes more manageable and sometimes even forgotten. But the ‘belly of a wolf’ is more than a catchy title, it is metaphor for the accumulation of disappointments as stones in the belly and specifically in the belly of Wolf. Disappointment at not being selected for a scholarship to university because she was too big, too real, too true/too Wolfish [216]; and the sense of betrayal by Red of Wolf when Wolf knew our paths were diverging/and that I wouldn’t follow you this time [217]. Another stone in the belly of Wolf. The question Red asks herself is Was it when I told you these things/that you decided to go on alone? [225].
The Belly of a Wolf is indeed an immersive verse novel – one in which the reader is drawn into the interior life of 15-year-old Red as she journeys through her grief at Wolf’s death. It offers an honest and sometimes raw insight into the emotions of Red – untouched by self-pity or maudlin thoughts – through fresh and intelligent writing.
A wonderful verse novel.
Julianne Negri is a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable author and has previously published The Secret Life of a Hummingbird and Almost a Fish.
The Belly of a Wolf
[2026]
by Julianne Negri
UWA Publishing
ISBN: 978 1 76080 320 9
$24.99; 305pp