Robin Moore is a divorced woman living on an island with her 16-year-old son Connor. Nothing is going right in her job as a landscape artist. Everything she touches seems to die.

Then one day while visiting her brother Stuart, a psychiatrist in New York City, she sees a man shivering on a bench. Hearing his plea, 'don't let them take me noplace,' Robin impulsively snatches him out of the jaws of danger and takes him home with her. Stephen, called the Wolf Man in the hospital, was three-and-one-half years old when his parents died in a plane crash in the Michigan wilderness. He was raised by a pack of wolves. Although this former feral child still recalls running free with his four-footed brothers, he is intrigued by his new life with Robin and her son. They tell neighbors he is a foreign exchange student studying horticulture.

In the spirit of Alice Hoffman's other novels, Second Nature has the vivid textures of a mesmerizing dream. This fairy tale draws us into the moist magic of mystery, passion, fear, and dread. Here we encounter the wild as something more than dark, ferocious, and dangerous. Stephen is capable of romantic feeling and caring for others. In addition, the Wolf Man helps Robin and Connor get in touch with unopened rooms inside themselves. ( )

This was a really good story, though at times I wondered where it was going. On top of that, it was really sad, and didn't have the happy ending I was hoping for. It did end better than I expected. ( )

Stinging from a fresh divorce, Robin impulsively rescues a man from a mental hospital and takes him home with her. The attractive young man, hospitalized because he was raised by wolves and has no social skills, takes Robin's heart captive. The events that follow make an unusual love story and an interesting story of life on a small island. As usual with Hoffman novels, Second Nature is peppered with eccentric, interesting and lovable characters. I devoured this book quickly. Note to self: Read all of Hoffman's books. Further notes: At least two of Hoffman's novels have been made into movies-Practical Magic and The River King. Both movies were good ( )

One of her better works. I really enjoyed this book. Good, quick read. ( )

An Alice Hoffman favorite. Very nice love story. ( )