Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
The rundown: Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland, twin sister Aggie in tow, leading a team of biologists charged with reintroducing wolves into the rugged, dying Highlands. She hopes that both the wolves and Aggie will find a future amidst the rough landscape. When the wolves show signs of thriving, despite hostility and violence from locals, Inti begins to breathe a bit easier. But Inti is not the same person she once was, before being driven out of Alaska by the violence of humans. Now, she knows that she must act in defense of those she loves. So when a local man is found dead, Inti makes a reckless, dangerous choice to protect the wolves. She’s convinced that the wolves did not kill this man…but if they didn’t, who did? Inti begins to suspect the man she’s falling for, and old wounds are peeled back open with violent consequences.
The review: This is a stunning novel, for so many reasons. Inti, who is nearly wild herself, has a passion for and connection to the fourteen wolves in the story and the wilderness at large that McConaghy conveys so compellingly. Equally stirring is the exploration of the perceived viciousness of the wolves in contrast with the actual violence inflicted by humans - against each other and the wild. Here, fear of wolves is displaced fear; the farmers want to fear wolves because they don’t want to fear the real monsters. What impresses me most about this book, however, is how McConaghy manages to convey such depth of emotion and urgency using pragmatic, almost spare prose. She doesn’t rely on sentimental language to draw out feelings in the reader, and yet I found myself tearing up in places, sometimes in anger and sometimes in sorrow. She doesn’t rely on melodrama to create tension; instead, the almost casual way she divulges the series of subtle surprises belies the violence revealed. I enjoyed how the book also explores the main themes through romance and murder mystery subplots, but readers who are picking it up purely for the environmentalism may not appreciate these elements.
While this book does contain thriller elements, I caution readers that it is not genre thriller. Instead, this reads more like literary fiction with a thriller bent. With that being said, thriller fans will enjoy the admittedly quite shocking twist at the end. Readers should make a point to check the TWs because what’s revealed of Aggie and Inti’s past is difficult to stomach and will likely convince some that this book isn’t for them.
Goes well with: Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo makes for an excellent companion read, either before or after OTWW. On a surface level, these books explore conservationism and the potential of human violence, both on the environment and towards each other. But they also unexpectedly share an intimate look into the sensory experiences of being a wolf, which was fascinating to read through two different lenses. Moreover, so much of what the protagonist of FTS envies about and desires from her research on wolves - the intimacy of close companionship; the freedom of exploring the wilderness - Inti gets to experience in one way or another. Also, if you’re into nonfiction, Erica Berry’s Wolfish does a fascinating job of exploring cultural constructions of wolves and our fear of them, which is so pervasive an issue in OTWW.
Grab a copy of Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy for your shelf!