Review 246: Once There Were Wolves

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this novel, despite it being somewhat dark. I didn’t expect a mystery, but that happened when a dead body shows up, maybe killed by a wolf, maybe a human.

Init Flynn is leading a rewilding effort in Scotland, bringing back wolves, which should also restore the forest. Her team is facing a community that is strongly against the wolves with the most vocal being a man who appears to abuse his wife. The dynamic of spousal abuse, of what it does to the victim is, one of the main components of this book. The story of the wolves is just the backdrop.
The author McConaghy shows her deft writing. I felt immersed in this story, as if it was true, despite that the story takes place in the near future, or some other timeline. The mystery unwinds, what happened in Init’s past, with her twin sister? How about Duncan’s past, the town sheriff who Init hooks up with? And of course that dead body, the man who abused his wife.

One other aspect that I liked about this book was the hope given for wild animals, that we could come back from the collapse of species failure. I will be looking out for what McConaghy writes next.


Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.