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The day I’m writing this—December 4^th—is my late partner’s birthday, always a time of bittersweet rememberance for me, as is the whole holiday season. I try to participate, but my heart simply isn’t in it anymore. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time to read Robert McDiarmid’s The House of Wolves, which sees the two main characters suffering from the same inestimable loss.

David and Roy have both been damaged by the loss of their respective partners. Roy immerses himself in teaching fifth grade while David turns away from the belief system that had sustained both his partner and their housemates. But the five men who lived with David and his late partner Richard are more than housemates—they are essential parts of each others social, physical and emotional beings, taking their philosophy from the Saanich, a Native American tribe. And they must accept Roy as one of their own if he and David are to have a successful relationship. 

Make no mistake, this is an interesting read, if for nothing else than the Native American philosophy and its approach to end of life matters—highly ritualistic with honor and respect for both the departed and those remaining, all about animals and spirits and nature and man’s interconnection with his surroundings. And McDiarmid does an incredible job of making this complex value system understandable to readers who don’t have prior experience with that culture.

However, if you’re looking for a traditional storyline with conflict and resolution, you won’t find it here. We know from the beginning that the others in the house will accept Roy. In fact, the entire plot is built around bringing him into the fold, so there is no real threat that the expected outcome won’t occur. There is no conflict to resolve, but that appears to be the author’s intent. And that doesn’t mean it’s boring. The focus is on the process, the ritual, and the examination of a communal, non-monogamous lifestyle that, in many respects, should be a model for all gay men. Because when all is said and done, no one is going to look out for us except us.

I wish, though, that McDiarmid would have fleshed out some of the minor characters in the house a bit more. Roy and David are certainly well-done, as is Marlin—also a teacher and, perhaps, the one in the house closest in character to Richard, their late leader. And occasionally (to be expected when dealing in philosophical matters, I suppose), McDiarmid lapses into lecturing. Too much telling instead of showing. But those are very minor quibbles when considering the work as a whole.

Despite my personal poor timing with reading The House of Wolves, it’s an absorbing study of Native American culture as well as an interesting, if slightly idealized, look at the relationships between men.

Reviewed by Jerry Wheeler