To Leave With the Reindeer

A woman challenges biology and convention in her struggle for freedom: a multi-voiced enquiry into the frontier between humans and animals. ‘To Leave with the Reindeer’ is the account of a woman who has been trained for a life she cannot live. She readies herself for freedom, and questions its limits, by exploring how humans relate to animals. Rosenthal weaves an intricate pattern, combining the central narrative with many other voices – vets, farmers, breeders, trainers, a butcher – to produce a polyphonic composition full of fascinating and disconcerting insights. Wise, precise, generous, this title takes a clear-eyed look at the dilemmas of domestication, both human and animal, and the price we might pay to break free.