Name: Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Item: Once There Were Wolves
Author: Trenzle Review

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It is a unique gift that McConaghy manages to create such a close bond not just between the reader and the story’s narrator, Inti, but also between Inti and the other characters (noting that this includes wildlife and flora). And from a critic’s perspective, her complex and subtle strategy for accomplishing this is extremely outstanding. According to McConaghy, who has been quoted, “I want reading my novels to feel like wandering through a forest or swimming in the ocean, to deliver a breath of fresh air and remind readers of the beauty that still remains in the world.” Certainly, Once There Were Wolves succeeds in that goal.

“When we started separating ourselves from the wild, when we stopped being one with the rest of nature, and sat apart,” my father used to remark, “that’s when the world became awry.”

The way she explores the idea of rewilding has layers and resonance that are fascinating. But what affected me the most was the way McConaghy illuminated the shadowy corners of society (‘this is the thing, isn’t it? They currently endure this level of fear. The child in us yearns for monsters to take on human bodies. They don’t want to fear one another, therefore they want to dread the wolf,” and her expansive view of languages and their influence. Violence is one of the “languages without words” that exist.

By carefully timing the admission of extremely upsetting past events, the author gradually builds reader tension alongside that of the town’s residents, building to a truly heart-pounding and heartbreaking finale.

I am in awe of McConaghy’s bravery for straddling the razor-thin line between love and hate, harm and protection, retribution and atonement in order to provoke contemplation. She takes her audience on a dark trip, but she illuminates it with strong, powerful characters who face and conquer their anxieties.

I unreservedly endorse Charlotte McConaghy’s Once There Were Wolves. It is one of my favourite readings of 2021 because it is an exceptionally moving and memorable literary thriller. It is a book club title that will elicit stimulating and gratifying discussions.

About The Book

A heart-pounding new book from the author of the worldwide blockbuster Migrations is set in the untamed Scottish Highlands. Inti Flynn and her twin sister Aggie travel to Scotland to become the helm of a group charged with restoring fourteen grey wolves into the isolated Highlands. She wants to mend Aggie’s damaged heart in addition to the withering countryside. Inti, however, is no longer the same person she once was and might benefit from rewilding.

Inti’s wolves surprise everyone by thriving in the face of ferocious hostility from the villagers, and as a result, she starts to relax and even considers the prospect of falling in love. But Inti is aware of where the town would place the blame when a local farmer is found dead. She can’t believe her wolf might be to blame, so she acts rashly to defend them, putting every instinct to the test.

Who made the kill, though, if not her wolves? How will she react if the man she has been seeing is named as the prime suspect? Once There Were Wolves is a compelling and enthralling story of a woman who is driven to save the animals she cares about. This deeply moving book by Charlotte McConaghy will stay with you forever. It is equal parts thriller and redemptive love story.

The Review