Shiver

Shiver, the first novel in a projected trilogy, introduces us to the werewolves of Mercy Falls, Minnesota. Far from being a horror comic, however, the book is a long and engrossing story of teenage love. Maggie Stiefvater specifically rejects ‘the moon and silver stuff’ as ‘all just myth’, only to replace it with a new and complex mythology. People do become werewolves by being bitten by wolves, but they remain as humans during the summer, changing to wolves as the temperature drops in the autumn. Gradually, their periods of humanity diminish, until they remain as wolves continually to their deaths, recognisable only by their eyes. The two protagonists are caught in this shape-shifting dilemma: Sam has been a werewolf from an early age; Grace was attacked as a young girl but, thanks to Sam’s intervention, has been only partly affected, so she has the enhanced senses of the wolves without the pain of changing form. The story of their relationship reaches a tragic intensity as the temperature drops and Sam approaches the point of no return.

The story is rooted in the familiar territory of dysfunctional families and American high-school life. Grace is, as she says, raising herself, providing a domestic anchor for her self-absorbed parents. Sam was singled out as a future leader of the wolf-pack by the older werewolf, Beck, who saw him with his ‘silly, vapid parents’. These parents subsequently try to kill Sam when they realise his dual nature, and are now ‘both serving life sentences’. Lycanthropy is presented as a complex metaphor: it represents the need ‘to give in to who you really are’, but Sam at one point describes himself as ‘an abomination to God’s creation’ who is ‘just trying to survive with the crappy lot [he’s] been given’. Nevertheless, Beck has been a father-figure to Sam, broadening his understanding and providing a wide education. Sam’s heightened self-awareness is demonstrated when he quotes from Rilke’s poem, ‘Evening’, which contemplates the pain of a dual existence. Perhaps the myth of Orpheus is being evoked as Sam takes up the guitar and sings to Grace, ‘my lovely summer girl’, while he becomes ‘winter personified’.

The novel alternates between the first-person narratives of Grace and Sam, in chapters that start with the changing temperature to emphasise the potential proximity to Sam’s transformation. Their physical relationship is evoked in intense terms, culminating in a reference to protected sex. Nevertheless, the description of school and domestic life around them is both humorous and witty, with wry observations of suburban existence. Even without the mythic enrichment, the book can be appreciated as a romantic story of youthful anomie, and is most suitable for older teenagers.