--- --- Nov 09, 2020 # I Hold a Wolf by the Ears by Laura van den Berg by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  In “Volcano House,” the most wrenching story in Laura van den Berg’s electrifying collection, the narrator begins with a seemingly harmless statement: “I went to Iceland to see a volcano.” The lines that follow describe the events of the trip, which the narrator took with her twin sister. It’s the same sister who, four months later, is comatose after being shot in the head while on a run. Quietly and quickly, van den Berg builds up to this moment through her lean and straightforward prose, not allowing the whiplash of emotions to settle as she flips between the sisters’ time abroad and their horrific new normal. _I Hold a Wolf by the Ears_ is filled with such unsettling dilemmas, faced by a cast of women in Florida, Italy and beyond. Their voices are contemplative and haunting as van den Berg asks how we love and live in the midst of change. **Buy Now:** _I Hold a Wolf by the Ears_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374102098 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374102090/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374102090&linkId=1819d548bb815fabd15fd2c6f3228da9 "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904371/i-hold-a-wolf-by-the-ears/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904371/i-hold-a-wolf-by-the-ears/"},"headline":"'I Hold a Wolf by the Ears' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-09T20:14:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:44:48.427Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904371/i-hold-a-wolf-by-the-ears/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf81bb160749e208/698a14030116826cf8980053/best-books-2020-I-Hold-A-Wolf-by-the-Ears.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf81bb160749e208/698a14030116826cf8980053/best-books-2020-I-Hold-A-Wolf-by-the-Ears.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904371/i-hold-a-wolf-by-the-ears/","name":"'I Hold a Wolf by the Ears' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```