Wolf, Joan

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WOLF, Joan

PERSONAL: Born in Bronx, NY; married; husband's name, Joseph; children: Jay, Pam. Education: Hunter College, M.A. Hobbies and other interests: Horses, New York Yankees fan, University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams fan.

ADDRESSES: Home—Milford, CT. Agent—c/o Warner Books, Inc., Time and Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Cardinal Spellman High School, Bronx, NY, former English teacher.

MEMBER: Author's Guild, Novelists, Inc.

WRITINGS:

A Kind of Honor, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1980.

A London Season, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1980.

A Difficult Truce, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1981.

The American Duchess, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1982.

The Counterfeit Marriage, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1982.

Lord Richard's Daughter, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1983.

The Divided Sphere, Floating Island Publications (Floating Island Station, CA), 1985.

The Rebel and the Rose, Signet (New York, NY), 1986.

The Road to Avalon, NAL Books (New York, NY), 1988.

The Arrangement, Thorndike Press (Thorndike, ME), 1988.

Born of the Sun, New American Library (New York, NY), 1989.

The Edge of Light, NAL Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Daughter of the Red Deer, Dutton (New York, NY), 1991.

The Horsemasters, Dutton (New York, NY), 1993.

The Reindeer Hunters, Dutton (New York, NY), 1994.

The Guardian, Wheeler Publications (Rockland, MA), 1997.

Golden Girl, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1999.

No Dark Place, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), 1999.

The Poisoned Serpent, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), 2000.

Royal Bride, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Silverbridge, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

High Meadow, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Historical romance novelist Joan Wolf was born in the Bronx, but has lived in Milford, Connecticut for over twenty years. Wolf taught creative writing to high school students before becoming a full-time writer. She noted at her Web site that teaching sharpened her critical skills, and editing students' work aided her in improving her own writing.

In The Road to Avalon, set in England after the Roman occupation, Wolf presents her version of the King Arthur legend. Uther Pendragon is a Roman king; his wife Igraine is a Celtic princess, and their son Arthur, conceived while Igraine was still married to her first husband, has been raised in secret by Morgan, daughter of the magician Merlin. Although Morgan is Arthur's half-aunt, the two are in love with each other, though they cannot show that love in public. Arthur marries Celtic princess Gwynhwyfar, but keeps his secret relationship with Morgan. In Publishers Weekly, Sybil Steinberg praised Wolf's characterization, noting that the book "captures—and enriches—the tragic sweep of romance and idealism inherent in the Arthurian tale." In Kirkus Reviews, a reviewer noted, "Wolf interestingly paints Arthur as a Roman Briton, and imaginatively intuits the course of a number of ancient battles."

The Road to Avalon is the first book in a trilogy, which includes Born of the Sun and The Edge of Light. In Born of the Sun, Niniane a British princess, and Ceawlin, the son of a Saxon king, are married in an attempt to form an alliance between their mutually hostile tribes. Trouble breaks out when in a duel the illegitimate Ceawlin accidentally kills his half-brother, the legitimate heir to their father's throne, and the lovers must flee for their lives. Eventually they return in triumph, amid conspiracy and conflict. In Booklist, Margaret Flanagan wrote that the book encompasses both "a grand adventure and a tender love story." "The plotting is excellent and the main characters and their love story appealing," reported Ann Mills in Library Journal. "Born of the Sun [is] a clear, precise description of life among the Saxons and Celts," said Brian Jacomb in a review of The Edge of Light for the Washington Post Book World.

The Edge of Light is set during a turbulent period in English history, the eighth century, when the country was a patchwork of warring kingdoms and factions, and Danish invaders pillaged the coasts. Jacomb wrote, "Wolf's descriptions of a long-ago, mostly rural England are colorful, her portrait of what life was like in those days convincing."

Daughter of the Red Deer, set in prehistoric southern France, features a conflict between the Tribe of the Horse, whose drinking water supply has become fouled, killing their women, and the Tribe of the Red Deer. In order to replace the women who have died, the men of the Tribe of the Horse kidnap women from the Tribe of the Red Deer. This larger conflict is personified by the tormented love between Mar, a leading man in the Tribe of the Horse, who falls in love with Alin, a priestess from the Red Deer clan. In School Library Journal, Carol Clark summed up the book as "fascinating reading." "A quick-moving, enchanting tale," wrote Denise Blank in Booklist, noting that the book "holds a powerful modern message concerning the battle of the sexes." A Kirkus Reviews critic called the book "post-feminist prehistory . . . well researched and thought out."

The Reindeer Hunters, described by Louise Titchener in the Washington Post Book World as "a fine addition to the growing genre of prehistories," is set in southern France at the time when the last Ice Age ended and warming weather changed the migration patterns of the reindeer. The action centers on Nardo and Alane, favored son and daughter of two "horsemaster" tribes, who marry to cement an alliance of their tribes against the invading "horse-eater" tribes. Their tribes, though allied, are different—Alane's is patrilineal, focusing power on men, and Nardo's is matrilineal, passing down power through the maternal line. Their private cultural clashes about marriage and the proper place of men and women are a running theme through the novel. "Now this is what a prehistorical should be!" commented Pat Monaghan in Booklist. "With assured plotting, pacing and characterization," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "Wolf . . . again convincingly imagines prehistoric people and events."

No Dark Place and The Poisoned Serpent are set in the medieval era and share a hero in Hugh de Leon. The Poisoned Serpent "serves up history and intrigue in equal measure," wrote a Publishers Weekly critic, who called the novel "engaging." Ilene Cooper, in a review of the audio version of The Poisoned Serpent for Booklist, called it a "well-constructed, well-set, and very satisfying tale."

Royal Bride also won Wolf critical praise. Set in a small canton named Jura, a neighbor of Austria, the novel is a tale of romance and political intrigue. "Wolf is fast becoming a household name among Regency fans," said a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who found the book to balance "sympathetic insight with captivating political suspense." Noting the novel's "charming . . . intelligent heroine" and "politically astute hero," Kristin Ramsdell in Library Journal called Royal Bride "a witty, fast-paced" tale.

Wolf stated in Peggy J. Jaegly's Romantic Hearts: A Personal Reference for Romance Readers, "Character is the element of a novel that interests me most.... Romance is the genre where character reigns supreme. Action by itself and for itself I find surprisingly dull. It is the deeper motivations of the people who do the action that interest me."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Jaegly, Peggy J., Romantic Hearts: A Personal Reference for Romance Readers, 3rd edition, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 1997.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1994, Pat Monaghan, review of The Reindeer Hunters, p. 240; October 1, 1999, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Golden Girl, p. 347; May 1, 2000, Ilene Cooper, review of The Poisoned Serpent, p. 1626.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 1988, review of The Road to Avalon, p. 858; September 1, 1991, review of Daughter of the Red Deer, p. 1117.

Library Journal, October 15, 1988, Beth Ann Mills, review of The Road to Avalon, p. 105; July, 1989, Beth Ann Mills, review of Born of the Sun, p. 111; June 15, 1990, Patricia Altner, review of The Edge of Light, p. 138; September 15, 1991, Beth Ann Mills, review of Daughter of the Red Deer, p. 115; April 1, 1993, Beth Ann Mills, review of The Horsemasters, p. 133; September 15, 1994, Mary Ellen Elsbernd, review of The Reindeer Hunters, p. 93; November 15, 1996, Kristin Ramsdell, review of The Deception, p. 52; May 15, 1998, Kristin Ramsdell, review of The Gamble, p. 76; May 1, 2000, Barbara Hoffert, review of The Poisoned Serpent, p. 158; February 15, 2001, Kristin Ramsdell, review of Royal Bride, p. 155.

Publishers Weekly, May 9, 1986, review of The Rebel and the Rose, p. 251; June 10, 1988, Sybil Steinberg, review of The Road to Avalon, p. 70; June 16, 1989, Sybil Steinberg, review of Born of the Sun, p. 56; June 15, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of The Edge of Light, p. 56; January 25, 1991, Penny Kaganoff, review of Born of the Sun, p. 53; September 6, 1991, review of Daughter of the Red Deer, p. 96; March 15, 1993, review of The Horse-masters, p. 69; September 12, 1994, review of The Reindeer Hunters, p. 80; October 14, 1996, review of The Deception, p. 81; March 3, 1997, review of The Guardian, p. 71; September 15, 1997, review of The Arrangement, p. 73; September 13, 1999, review of Golden Girl, p. 79; April 17, 2000, review of The Poisoned Serpent, p. 55; January 13, 2001, review of Royal Bride, p. 56.

School Library Journal, June, 1992, Carol Clark, review of Daughter of the Red Deer, p. 150; October, 2000, Claudia Moore, review of The Poisoned Serpent, p. 194.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 1990, review of The Road to Avalon, p. 138; December, 2000, John Charles and Joanne Morrison, review of No Dark Place, p. 320.

Washington Post Book World, September, 1990, Brian Jacomb, review of the The Edge of Light, p. 9; January 22, 1995, Louise Titchener, review of The Reindeer Hunters, p. 11.