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This article was published 10/01/2026 (295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Hamilton author Amanda Leduc to the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss her Giller Prize-longlisted novel Wild Life.

Published in March 2025 by Random House Canada, Wild Life follows the journey of two walking, talking hyenas over the course of decades, documenting their various interactions with humans all over the world.

Leduc’s story starts with the hyenas seeking out Josiah, a young man in 19th-century Scotland whose father sends him off on a religious mission; it is there Josiah meets the hyenas, who he believes are god in animal form, and they save him from a natural disaster which kills the rest of his party. Josiah then begins to develop his own religion, Church of the Wild, the crux of which is god giving the ability of speech to animals as a way to exalt the human race.

Josiah rises to an almost cult-leader status, but then mysteriously dies. The hyenas continue on their journey — though their true mission or motivation remains unclear throughout the novel. They take a train ride over an ocean, they learn how to make shortbread, they are kept in a zoo, they are given names — Barbara and Kendrith — and live in an apartment, they make friends and enemies and pique the interest of everyone in between.

Threads of Josiah’s religion act as a throughline for each new adventure; as Josiah’s following, members of which are called the “Ladder-Days,” grows even after his death, more animals begin to speak, and his followers endlessly and aggressively search for the infamous hyenas.

Each chapter is a new vignette, a new experience and cast of characters who relate to previous ones in beautifully creative ways. Leduc’s writing is specific and requires a close eye, but the world she is able to develop in Wild Life is worth the effort.

In his review of Wild Life for the Free Press, Craig Terlson said “A skilled writer can make you believe anything is possible, no matter how fantastical — it’s as if they take you by the hand and lead you into a strange town. This feeling is inherent in Amanda Leduc’s Wild Life.” Calling the writing “dazzling… the storytelling is inventive and fresh,” Terlson added “if you’re willing to be taken into a world that is both ours and not ours, it’s highly recommended you take the ride,” and that “(w)hen it’s over, you might feel a bit breathless and wonder what just happened. It’s also very likely you will want to immediately read it again.”

Leduc will join Free Press copy editor Ariel Gordon, McNally Robinson Booksellers manager of community programs Joanna Graham and Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar. She will read from Wild Life, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers.

Copies of Wild Life are available to purchase at McNally Robinson Booksellers; there’s no cost to join the book club or virtual discussion. Video of the meeting will be available for replay on the Free Press YouTube channel following the event.

To join the Free Press Book Club and for more information on current and future book picks, visit wfp.to/bookclub.