Wild Angel

by Pat Murphy

This time, Murphy tells the ripsnorting tale of young Sarah, the Wild Angel of the Sierras. Sarah's parents were murdered, and she, only four years old, was left for dead in the wild mountains. But Sarah was rescued by a wolf who had lost her cubs, and accepted into the pack. There, against all odds, she thrived. Part Mowgli of the Jungle Books, part Tarzan of the Apes, Sarah's story is a delightful adventure for all ages.

When she is not writing science fiction, Pat Murphy writes for the Exploratorium, San Francisco's museum of science, art, and human perception. Pat Murphy's second novel, The Falling Woman , won the Nebula for best novel published in 1987. Her most recent previous novel is There and Back Again.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Wolves, Science Fiction Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Pat Murphy’s latest short story collection is called "Women Up to No Good," a title that describes Pat’s attitude in general. Pat writes about strong women who are not afraid of making trouble.

Pat's fiction has won multiple awards for her science fiction and fantasy works, including the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Philip K Dick Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award, and the Christopher Award. Her latest novel, "The Adventures of Mary Darling," is a historic fantasy -- a subversive take on Peter Pan (with a side helping of Sherlock Holmes). It will be out in May 2025 from Tachyon Publications.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book on Hoopla. Bernadette Dunne was the Narrator and she does an excellent job. I read a book a while back about a child raised by wild dogs and This isn’t a new concept but I throughly enjoyed it. No mystery about the book but just the concept of the child learning how to survive in the wilderness. A wild girl able to kill a grizzly bear with a lariat and a bow and arrows is a bit of an exaggeration but makes for better story.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit silly and predictable. But still an enjoyable read. Not sure if I've read this one before. Or perhaps just read something just like this before. After all, raised-by-wolves, parents-killed-in-front-of-me, gold-rush-frontier town California. Heck even Samuel Clemens eventually makes an appearance. And the circus comes to town. Believable this was not. Even reasonable this was not. Certainly not one of the author's better books. But a light way to spend some time done well enough.

[Sonya Faust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictable but a fun read. Strong female characters.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and loved it. In fact, I loved it so much I read it again. If you don't know me, I NEVER read books twice. I just don't have the time. There are just too many books to read that I haven't yet. However, this is one of the few books I've read more than once, and it is the only books I can specifically remember reading more than once.

[WolfLover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of Sarah, a girl adopted by wolves as a three-year-old after the murder of her parents. She lives wild for the most part, but does develop some language and tool-making skills after befriending a Native American girl.

The perspectives of various other people are also given, such as the man who killed Sarah’s parents and another who is corresponding with her aunt after discovering she’s alive. I do see why the author included these parts, but personally I found them a bit boring and felt they detracted from Sarah’s story. I wanted to read about the girl raised by wolves, not about some miner in a bar.

There were a couple of factual errors regarding wolves, but fewer than I’ve come to expect in most wolf novels. The author does at least know that a wolf pack is a family group, for example. The story contains a number of highly unlikely events and contrived coincidences, and might as well end with “and they all lived happily ever after”, but it was an entertaining enough read.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listed to the audio book read by Bernadette Dunne, who did an excellent job.

I really enjoyed this even though I'm an adult and the audience is young adult girls. It's a sort of girl power book. The heroine is strong willed, capable and easy to like. The ending reminds me of a Dickens novel in the way everything wrapped up neatly with a bow - satisfying, but not entirely believable. I especially liked the parts where Sarah interacts with the wolf pack and learns to survive in the natural world. Again, not entirely believable, but a fun read.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman is raised by wolves in the wilds of the 19th century California Sierra mountains.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wild Angel" By Pat Murphy Tells the tale of a young girl who, after watching her parents gunned down at age three, is raised by wolves.
I had a lot of fun reading this book! I found myself talking about it every day with my friends! I highly recommend this book! Its A fun enjoyable read!!!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my favorite style of story (child raised by wild animals), but Pat Murphy is good at what she does, so made this enjoyable.

[Cait · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read 8/2008

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Tarzan was a girl in the Old West. Another really strange pastiche on E.R. Burroughs. Good times were had.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much I liked this book, it is fast moving and keeps you interested.