“When I first arrived in Norway, people told me that there weren’t any wolves left, save for one lone female, passing through on her way back to Russia..
The loss of the wolf is like the loss of a mother. Somewhere she roams in memory, in darkness. Our bond with her is inexplicable, before the beginning of time. She is fierce love; she is sorrow. She is howling in the wilderness we can never see, calling us home. She is what we fear–and what we long to return to–the heat of the cave and animal closeness, before all civilization and reason.”
–Mira Bartok, p. 241, “The Memory Palace”. Free Press: 2011. A daughter’s memoir about Bartok’s mentally ill mother, their relationship and the impact of her mother’s illness on her life. Bartok uses art and writing throughout this book to make sense of her experiences, and find peace among the madness.
Among the Wolves 