Beautiful accounts of nature and especially of wolves in this tale of an attempt to re-wild part of the Cairngorms. Violence, murder, love and new birth are all woven into the story.

Wolves, snow and angst.
Well what a thrill this book was, so involving.
The characters all seem to be damaged in some way and fighting their demons. The emotions are raw and real.
Inti the child of divorced parents and her twin Aggie spend their childhood between their parents, their Father is an environmental champion teaching them both how to save the planet until he is driven mad by his frustrations.
Inti moves from Australia to rehome Wolves in Scotland, she takes her twin with her. The rewilding scheme meets fierce opposition and many challenges from the local people. Inti is befriended by the local police chief although she has no trust in men.
The descriptions of the wolves, their family life and hierarchy are fascinating.
Who is to blame for the death of a wife beating bully?
I read another book about wolf rewilding called the Wolf border by Sarah Hall, also filled with dysfunctional people and Wolves.

“I had always known there was something different about me,” Inti says, “but that was the day I first recognized it to be dangerous. It was also the day, as I stumbled out of the shed into a long violet dusk, that I looked to the trees’ edge and saw my first wolf, and it saw me.”

Inti Flynn arrives from Alaska to the remote village of Cairngorms in Scotland, tasked with reintroducing fourteen wolves to the land that they once inhabited. Her twin sister Aggie, who has become non-verbal since experiencing an unspecified traumatic event in Alaska, accompanies her. Aggie's trauma runs so deep that she is sometimes almost catatonic. An explanation is drip fed to us, and we start to understand why they share this experience.

Woven among the stories of the present day and Alaska is the story of the twins' childhood, which was split between their detective mother's home in Sydney and their environmentalist father's in Vancouver. Their parents' differences are stark; their father teaches them to love the wild and how to live respectfully in it, while their mother teaches them of the wildness in humans and the horror that it can sometimes cause.

Inti struggles to convince the people of Cairngorms that the reintroduction of the predators will ultimately benefit them. She is prone to angry outbursts and this does little to endear her to her fellow villagers, bar Duncan, who does his best to get close to her. The villagers feel that they were right to be afraid when one of them is killed and a wolf is thought to be the culprit. But are the wolves really to blame?

I wasn't expecting the murder-mystery aspect of this book and really enjoyed it. The tension is ramped up at a good pace and we're kept guessing. There is a darkness to the book and it is underscored by the violent acts of the men in the twins lives. The reasons for Inti's anger become apparent and it becomes easier to sympathise with her as they do. I loved the scenes involving the wolves and the descriptions of the Highlands are sublime. This is a beautiful, dark thriller as well as a love letter to conservationists and their tireless efforts to save our home.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, Random House UK, Vintage and Net Galley for the advanced digital copy.

“My father used to say the world turned wrong when we started separating ourselves from the wild, when we stopped being one with the rest of nature, and sat apart. He said we might survive this mistake if we found a way to rewild ourselves.”

Thank you @vintagebooks and @NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gosh this book, for me, had it all, its dark, its innate and had me totally absorbed from the first page.

Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing fourteen gray wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but Aggie, too, unmade by the terrible secrets that drove the sisters out of Alaska.

The plot is violent, the psyche is twisted and painful but the landscape is powerful….. and the wolves are magnificent🧡. It’s a visceral read that can be heavy going at times. It explores the most horrible aspects of human nature. But something in the story will speak to the wild instinctual being in you. You may have forgotten her name, you may not even answer when she calls you, but in your bones you’ll know her. A haunting thriller cleverly woven into the fascinating subject matter of rewilding and reconnecting.

TRIGGER WARNINGS Domestic Abuse, Rape, Murder, Death of an animal

nce There Were Wolves focuses on a conservation team re-introducing wolves to Scotland. This immediately piqued my interest as a) I'm Scottish and b) I love wolves.

The book follows main character Inti Flynn as she tries to deal with both hostile locals opposed to the wolf project, and family traumas from the past.

It's a well-written book and the threads covering both the wolf project and Inti's past held my interest. However, it's a book I admired more than enjoyed. It reminded me of Lisa Taddeo's 'Animal', in its unflinching portrayal of abusive men and the effect they have on women's lives. But the harrowing nature of some sections of the book mean this wasn't an easy read.

I did have a couple of issues with the book. First, Inti's unusual synaesthesia, which sees her physically feel the pain suffered by others (so she sees someone get punched in the face and she feels the punch herself), seemed a bit of an odd inclusion. It kind of smacked of "let's add a kryptonite for the main character" and I'm not sure it was really needed.

Second, I thought some elements of the ending were very unrealistic.

Despite these issues this was a good, if difficult, read.

In short: beautiful prose, but the last minute turn towards positivity doesn't balance out a very dark read. 3.5 stars

The good: McConaghy is a very strong writer. Like a great journalist, she has expunged all unnecessary words from the text. Her prose is sparse and staccato, which conveys both Inti's character and the harshness of the Scottish Highlands. As someone who lives in Scotland and is involved in sustainability, I was deeply interested in McConaghy's focus on rewilding and the potential positive/negative impacts of species reintroduction on the local community.

The bad: I may be nitpicking here, but as resident of Scotland (albeit an immigrant), certain passages felt wildly inaccurate. For example:
- I've never heard of a Scottish man wearing a kilt in the highlands in winter if it wasn't for a ceilidh or the rugby. Certainly not for a general town meeting.
- "Yeah, No" is a phrase Americans and Australians use, but not Scots.
- Calling a mare a "stallion" may be a thing in Australia, but I've never heard a Scottish (or American) farmer use such incorrect terminology.
- Halloween isn't a big deal in Scotland, even in Edinburgh where there are a lot of Americans. While Samhain is celebrated, there wouldn't be that many costumes or house decorations for the holiday.
- Ospreys nest in Alaska. I'd be shocked to hear that a scientist who lived/worked in Denali for years hadn't seen an osprey feed in the wild before.
A Scottish editor may have flagged some of these issues,
Another small quibble - as a "mystery," it's a bit of a letdown. It's very clear who the killer is early on. That didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the book, however, as I didn't truly view the book as a murder mystery.

The ugly: The entire book simmers with Inti's/McConaghy's justifiable anger over both the destruction of the environment and persistent violence against women. I appreciate that McConaghy was unafraid to unleash this anger - as far too many women are discouraged from doing. That said, the book could be very difficult for some audiences. All the men, sans Douglas, have (or had) very violent tendencies. Some of the negative portrayal of men is due to the character's trauma, but as a reader, it can be very tiring to consistently read "all men are bad." McConaghy does an admirable job of trying to counter this negativity at the very end of the book, but it felt a bit like "too little, too late." I've lived in a lot of places around the world, and I've found Scots to be some of the most welcoming and gregarious people, so it felt unrealistic to have so many of the male characters be unpleasant, drunk, or violent. And having one character lose his voice while a woman regains hers may have been a bit too on the nose.

Overall, I'd be happy to pick up more of McConaghy's work for her writing ability, but I'd hesitate to recommend this book to the general public without a lot of content warnings. I did find myself discussing the subject matter with Scottish friends though, and not even just those involved with agriculture/sustainability.

Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with one goal: reintroduce wolves into the remote Highlands, where they haven’t stepped foot in hundreds of years. She is fiercely determined that nothing will distract her from her work, but when she returns each night to her cottage, where her traumatized twin sister Aggie barely leaves her bed, Inti can’t help but remember the painful secrets that drove them out at Alaska and into this new life.

This is a very passionate, one-of-a-kind, story that gives us a visceral, haunting, emotional story that allows us to deepen our understanding of the complexities between humans, animals, and the natural world we share together.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

This is beautiful. It shines with love of the wild; but is filled with knowledge of the darkness that lurks in all of us. It is this dance - of love and trust twinned with darkness and cruelty - that the book plays with.

A book that will stay in my memory forever! Brilliant!

The opening lines of the novel, “When we were eight, Dad cut me open from throat to stomach.” I was hooked, nothing as powerful as these words had ever crossed my path before and I wanted to know how this line could be the first in a storyline on the re-introduction of wolves into the far north of Scotland.

Inti and her twin sister Aggie [Flynn]had the luxury of growing up between two continents. With their mother, a leading criminal detective in Australia and their father living off-grid in a forest in the wilds of British Columbia. The girls spent two idyllic years with their father in the wilds, studying the habits and habitats of the animals. Inti knew that she wanted to devote her life to studying wolves from this time. She had achieved two science degrees before she turned twenty-five. A doctorate followed and her work career took her first to help with the re-introduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park and then joined the wolf team in the Denali National Park before accepting the lead role in introducing wolves to Scotland. Two of her colleagues from Denali have joined her in Scotland to set up the project.

Fourteen grey wolves were chosen to be released into the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Their arrival is greeted with mixed feelings by the locals. Many farmers are terrified that the wolves will slaughter their sheep. Inti and her group are trying to educate and teach the farmers how to protect their sheep. Will the teaching be enough? Will the team overcome the negative opinions held by the locals? And will the wolves be blamed when a man disappears presumed attacked and killed by a wolf?

I have always loved wolves and have been fascinated by their lives and their impact on the environment. Thanks to Charlotte McConaghy, I’ve learned so much more. I can understand that wolves could be a threat to the local farmers, but the impact they have on restoring forests should be of much greater importance to their re-introduction to places like Scotland. However, this is not just about wolves. Inti has a rare neurological condition called Mirror-touch Synaesthesia. Her brain recreates the sensory experiences of living creatures – both people and animals. By following her work with this pack of wolves we also find out the history of the twins. Aggie is mute. We discover the cause of this infliction through the beautiful, picture-perfect writing and descriptions thanks to Charlotte McConaghy’s brilliant writing.

A perfect book for a book club to read and discuss. I’ve been bursting to share my thoughts not only on the plot but the writing and the idea that wolves could one day soon take their place again in the wild of Scotland.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

I enjoyed this book because i love wolves ! Really enjoyed the history of the wolves but i found the story within a bit far fetched .

I loved the descriptions of Scotland, the wolves and it made me understand the passion and the hard work of conservationists.
I wasn't a fan of the humans: Intl isn't a likeable character as she's bossy and doesn't care for laws or rules in order to achieve what she wants.
The author is a good storyteller and I liked the style of writing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

I saw a lot of my fellow Bookstagramers review this novel and I thought it would be great for me. I'm sorry to say it was not for me. The prose were wonderful but I struggled with the characters and the plot. It didn't felt real and in this kind of novel I need to feel that.

I went into Once There Were Wolves with very little knowledge about the storyline or characters. I don’t think I had read the blurb since I requested it from NetGalley, which was a few months prior to actually picking the book up. For me, this helped with my enjoyment of the story because it’s one of those books where I think the blurb actually gives too much of the plot away. So if you’re going to pick the book up, leave it a few months to forget what you read in the blurb.
Once There Were Wolves is told in the first person, from the perspective of Inti Flynn, a young woman determined to see the return of wolves to the Scottish Highlands. She’s a really interesting character because she has a condition called mirror-touch synaesthesia. This is a rare condition that means she can literally feel what others are feeling: so if a person she is looking at runs their finger over their cheek, she will feel it as if the finger is on her cheek. It’s not a condition I’d ever heard of before, and I had to check it was real. It is, but quite rare. From what I’ve read in news sources, such as here [BBC article] the way McConaghy describes the condition is realistic. I love the feeling it brings to the story. It lends the narrative an air of magic – even though it’s not magic at all.
The atmosphere in this book is one of the things I really love about it. The descriptive, slightly lyrical writing style creates a quiet and intense atmosphere. The passion Inti feels for the wolves comes through in the writing – it consumes her thoughts and so drives the narrative. There’s also a sad, kind of quiet anger that permeates the book. Against the backdrop of the debate around the future of the environment is another storyline and theme: that of the safety of women and the dangers men can represent to them. Though the issues aren’t tied together in the book in any tangible way, by placing them side by side in this book McConaghy does suggest that these issues of justice are bound together. Both require urgent attention. The book highlights the idea of conflict between humanity and nature in the book in the same way that she highlights the conflict between women and men.
The one thing in Once There Were Wolves that I felt let the rest down was the romantic relationship that develops between Inti and another character she meets early on in the book. Whereas the relationship itself, once established, was believable and interesting, the period of the characters meeting and getting to know each other felt rushed. I felt that it would have benefited from more development to really allow the reader to see and feel Inti falling for this person.
Once There Were Wolves is a beautifully written book about the environmental crisis, the conflict between humanity and nature, as well as conflicts between men and women. It is very much a book of the contemporary moment, and will stick with me for a long time.

I am of two minds with Once There Were Wolves. One part applauds the high minded, lofty goal of reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands. I wholly agree with that though it will, inevitably, create difficulty in the lives of those who rely on the land for their livelihood. The exploration of that introduction and adjustment was handled well. It wasn't pretty but we did get to see both sides of the argument in a fair way. Be warned, there are difficult passages to endure. Though Inti, our main character, was a bull in a china shop believing her way the only way, she did soften with time and grow as a person within the pages. Once There Were Wolves was beautifully written and made me crave an outing in the Highlands searching for wolves. Stunning nature captured exceptionally well. An enriching read.

Another part of me feels the added dimension of Inti's mirror-touch synesthesia and the violence was a bit much? It seemed more than was necessary. It certainly added a level of complexity to Inti's life as sensory perception of events occurring to someone else were felt by Inti if she could see it. This, then, opened the door to abusive relationships and control issues. Some rough reading, at times, but I felt it is worth persevering. A multi-dimensional story about nature, bad choices, escaping the past and finding hope in the future I enjoyed Once There Were Wolves and would recommend it freely.

This is a story that is literary fiction and murder mystery. This has a heavy focus on the environment and the impact we are having. The writing is very good and made me want to keep reading.

5 savagely wild stars

This book made into my top 5 books read in 2021, so I only hope my review can do justice to just how much I adored it.

Inti moves to Scotland to lead a wolf rewilding project, and also hopes to make sense of her own families troubled history while there. She is a prickly character, emotionally remote and I can definitely see why she loves wolves as relates to them so much. She too has brought her own pack to Scotland with her in the form of her twin sister, and they have a lot of healing to do while there.

The wolves fascinated me, and I was flicking the pages eagerly to learn of their progress and honestly in another life, I want to be Inti and working on wildlife projects like this.

Danger, hostility and threats lurk in Scotland for the wolves and for Inti and my heart pounded all the way through the book. Vivid descriptions of the unspoilt dramatic landscape transported me away and kept me gripped to the pages. And I think Charlotte McConaghy proves that she possesses a unique writing voice, so whatever she writes next will be an auto buy for me.

Highly recommended if you like nature, complex characters and haunting plot lines that you think about long after you put the book down.

LOVED!

This was a gripping read that dealt with some relatable and hard hitting issues with sensitivity and great writing. It did have a lot of graphic and bloody scenes but it was still very enjoyable. It was well written with a good storyline and a cast of well developed characters. Really enjoyable read

I didn't enjoy this book while I was reading it as much I did after I had finished. Up until about 65% there was nothing that compelling to keep me reading and a couple of times I did think about not finishing it. But the eerie atmosphere, dream like quality and cast of characters kept drawing me back in. It touches upon so many topic and with such a compelling voice. Ultimately it was a 5 star read, and is probably be one of the best books I have every read. I’m struggling to describe the unique writing style but it’s unlike anything I have ever read before. You just need to read it.

Ps. Check out the trigger warnings.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Well - it's been a good while since I last read such a gripping book. The main premise is the rewilding of the Scottish Cairngorms with wolves imported from Alaska, overseen by an international team of biologists and ecologists. Unsurprisingly, the operation is viewed with deep suspicion by the small, tightly knit local sheep and cattle farming community who fatalistically expect a wolf attack on their livestock and are determined to go out and hunt them when that happens. Meanwhile the lead biologist carries her own traumatic past to colour her judgement.

The novel has a strong ecological message, but first and foremost it is an incredibly good story. The characters are interesting and believable, and the setup of locals vs. scientists feels fresh and new, though it is a well-established trope in literature. The plot is as riveting as any thriller, and the writing is spare and economical, and doesn't get in the way of the story being told. At the heart of it, this is a meditation on the nature of trust and fear and violence, of human civilisation set against nature instead of working with it, of the dangers of the wild and those from our fellow humans.

Anything more would constitute a spoiler, but I will give this novel my highest accolade - it is an extremely good story, extremely well told. Highly recommended for a quick, absorbing read which gives plenty of food for thought.

Wonderful. I absolutely loved this story.
Yes in places it was hard-hitting, brutal and devastating but it was amazing.
I loved finding out more about wolves and that it was set in Scotland, and I'd never heard of "mirror touch" before so found that really interesting.
It was so well written I felt as though I was there too, I absolutely couldn't put it down, I read it over 2 days and feel like I've been picked up, spun me through a wild story and spat back out an ugly-crying emotional wreck!
It's taken me a week to even try and put my feelings into words.
But still totally worth it.
I was rooting for the wolves and the girls' throughout and I didn't guess about the attacks.
Unforgettable.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.