Once There Were Wolves
By the internationally bestselling author of WILD DARK SHORE
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4.4 • 135 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
INDIE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER 2022
"So damn good" Jeff VanderMeer, NYT bestselling author
"Changes you as you read." Laurie Frankel, NYT bestselling author
"This is a stunner." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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Ecology Meets Mystery
Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team tasked with reintroducing fourteen grey wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape but also her emotionally wounded sister. Inti herself has changed; she may be the one who needs rewilding.
A Community in Turmoil
Facing strong opposition from the locals, Inti's wolves defy expectations by not just surviving but thriving. Inti lowers her defences, warming to new experiences and emotions, including love. Yet, when a local farmer is discovered dead, the finger-pointing begins. Refusing to believe her wolves are at fault, Inti takes a risky step to shield them, putting her instincts to the ultimate test.
A Tangled Web of Blame
If her wolves didn't cause the death, who did? Matters complicate further when a man she's become involved with emerges as a prime suspect.
A Story That Will Stay with You
Propulsive and spellbinding, this is an unforgettable tale of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves. Part thriller, part redemptive love story, Charlotte McConaghy's profoundly affecting novel will stay with you forever.
Why It Resonates
Achieving both literary and commercial acclaim, Once There Were Wolves serves as a compelling commentary on the urgent issues of environmental rewilding and violence against women. Brilliantly blending genres, this novel is perfect for fans of Emily St. John Mandel, Evie Wyld, and Hannah Kent.
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Additional Acclaim
"A gripping and emotionally resonant journey." James Bradley, Sydney Morning Herald
"A suspenseful and poignant narrative." Scientific American
"Filled with ravishing descriptions of the landscape." Booklist
"A powerful meditation on humanity and nature." BookPage (starred review)
"Poetic... A lovely, gripping tale." Kirkus (starred review)
"Suspenseful... Urges us to take a lesson from the wolves." BookRiot
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Australian author McConaghy (Migrations) returns with a vividly realized story of trauma and the attempted "rewilding" of the Scottish Highlands. Empathetic biologist Inti Flynn, raised in part in Sydney, Australia, and in part in the woods of British Columbia, is on a project site in Scotland with a group of biologists, where she works to introduce North American wolves into the Scottish ecosystem. She has brought her mute identical twin sister, Aggie; Inti knows the source of Aggie's trauma, but the details are kept from the reader until late in the narrative. When Inti discovers the body of a man she suspects was abusive to his wife (he said she fell off of a horse; she looked like she was beaten up), and who might have been killed either by a wolf or another person, she impulsively buries the body and sets out to solve the mystery of the death, a process complicated by her sexual relationship with the local police chief, as they have a hard time trusting each other, and by an unexpected pregnancy. In a story full of subtle surprises, revolving around Aggie's painful past as well as the source of the violence on the project site, McConaghy brings precise descriptions to the wolves—"subtly powerful, endlessly patient"—and to Inti's borderline-feral way of existing in the world. The bleak landscape is gorgeously rendered and made tense by its human and animal inhabitants, each capable of killing. Throughout, McConaghy avoids melodrama by maintaining a cool matter-of-factness. This is a stunner.
Customer Reviews
Identity & control
A story of identity and control, set in a rural community in contemporary Scotland. Tense and powerful, McConaghy's tale warns us to examine both how we let others treat us, and how we ourselves treat the environment
Disappointing
Not particularly believable or enjoyable. The main character is difficult to like.
Favourite book I’ve read this year
Incredible