Book

Wolfwoman is the memoir about a shy young woman who, inspired by Jane Goodall, finds herself studying a pack of wild wolves in northeastern Minnesota. The confidence she gains from learning research techniques, from encounters with wolves and other wild animals, and from living, working, and traveling in the wilderness, propels her toward discovering the causes of her excruciating shyness and why she was subject to the predatory behavior of men.

My name is Holly Hertel and my memoir depicts a critical turning point in my life. It begins with volunteering at a captive wolf study, then assisting with a wild bald-eagle study, and, from age twenty-six through twenty-nine, conducting my own master’s field work that included live-trapping wolves, radio-collaring and -tracking them, and watching pack interactions, as well as wolf-bear encounters, at a forest landfill. This was the period that shook my complacency and launched my search for the answers to my social awkwardness and deep unhappiness. I discovered the alcoholism and abuse that marked my childhood. My memories, originally hidden by my own subconscious bid for survival, began to emerge after the beauty of wilderness and its elusive wild wolves cracked me wide open.

Never before has there been a book that tells of a young woman observing wild wolves. This is also a book about a woman using the confidence she gains from working in the wilderness for dealing with her wounds. Wolf Woman delves into the reasons many child-abuse sufferers forget their experiences, and how they may find the courage to uncover them and heal. This book draws readers into the fascinating world of field biology, akin to Jane Goodall’s studies, but closer to home in the northern forests of Minnesota, with wildlife study techniques and unique encounters with eagles, porcupines, deer, bears, badgers, and, most importantly, the often misunderstood wolf.