Did you have a chance to read Migrations last year? It was a book that has stuck with me because of the exquisite writing. Charlotte McConaghy is back this year with one that I loved even more.

Inti and her twin sister, Aggie, have arrived in Scotland with a team of biologists to reintroduce fourteen wolves into the Highlands. The local farmers aren’t in favor of this plan and one of the wolves is quickly killed. Inti’s determination to protect her animals comes at the cost of letting someone get away with murder.
Inti has a unique condition called mirror touch synesthesia which means that she can actually feels what others experience. She has grown up as the quieter twin while Aggie isn’t afraid of anything, even though it regularly gets her into trouble. They have divorced parents with very different ideologies and their life lessons are quite opposite.
This story is told in dual timelines reflecting both on how the twins are raised and what’s happening now in Scotland. I loved both storylines, seeing what experiences made the twins in to who they are, and also following the suspenseful events in the present. This author writes nature like no one else I’ve read and makes it feel so visceral. I loved this book.

Wow, what an absolutely stunning book. I was not a big fan of Migrations but there is almost nothing not to love about McConaghy's newest effort, Once There Were Wolves. Character development, setting, and story all come to life in her skilled hands, creating a novel of unexpected depth, complete people whose souls we inhabit and a story that is so well paced and so interesting that it keep this reader glued to the text, racing to learn the resolution and yet not wanting it to end. The novel would have been total perfection but for the over-preachiness about individuals' responsibility for restoring the environs that takes place at a local knitting circle. But this is a very minor criticism. Once There Were Wolves is a masterpiece of a novel. Brava Ms. McConaghy!

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy,

Inti Flynn is the leader of a team of biologists reintroducing wolves to the Highlands of Scotland. The hope is that by bringing these predators back to the area that nature can achieve the balance it needs for the land to heal itself and grow in the way that it needs to grow for centuries to come. Inty brings her broken sister, Aggie, hoping she can heal her, too.

I was so angry with Inti, despite all the good she is attempting to do, because I could feel the stress and frustration she was bringing with her, to the lives of people whose livelihoods she was threatening. Inti could have used some diplomatic skills but she suffers her own traumas from the past and she is as mistrustful of humans as her wolves. Regardless of laws or rules, she does what she wants, releases the wolves behind the backs of those she is supposed to notify, takes the law in her own hands to punish those she wants to punish, tramples on life for her own reasons, without thinking or caring that she is hurting humans and animals. I know my thoughts towards her are harsh but I could feel the damage she was doing, in the name of her goals, fine and honorable goals that will be more attainable with a softer approach to the people and way of life that she is threatening.

The writing is beautiful and we are in the head of Inty. We can see that even she is of two minds, torn in so many ways, not always knowing what is best but also knowing that some of what she does hurts both people and animals. Inty is hurt, angry, confused, and she feels powerless to change the past and to fix the future. I am so impressed with how the author brings about Inty's awareness that she went about things in manner that was not helpful and that she knows she needs to find a better way. The very people that she demonized as being in her way of making the earth a better place, once she stops to really get to know them, are people that are willing to work with her, if she would only talk to them. I loved this aspect of the book, that it addressed the very things that were bothering me about Inty.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Inti Flynn is a biologist tasked with (1) reintroducing wolves to the area of the Scottish Cairngorms, much to the dismay of local sheep farmers and (2) protecting and caring for her twin sister who carries unspeakable trauma from her past. The story unfolds in three timelines: (1) a childhood raised by a father with a deep connection to nature, (2) married life in Alaska, and (3) present time in Scotland dealing with wolves, locals, love, and brutal deaths. While we go back and forth between the timelines, I felt it flowed well and kept the reader fully engaged and wanting to dig deeper...to keep reading...to know more.

The author paints a fair and balanced account of the very real issues involved in the struggle between conservation and farming so that the reader empathizes with both sides. She writes with respect not just for nature but also for the real people and real setbacks they experience. I was especially awed by McConaghy’s research on wolves. It felt like a labor of love where she honors the dignity of these incredible creatures. I walk away from this book with a fond and deeper appreciation for wolf behavior, seeing them as not only territorial, but loyal, intelligent, and skillfully evasive fierce predators. I thank the author for this gift of understanding.

McConaghy’s voice venerates nature. Similar in style to her previous bestseller, Migrations, she presents the modern challenges of planet stewardship with intelligence and resolve while not sounding “preachy.” I was a huge fan of her 2020 book Migrations and found Once There Were Wolves to exceed all my expectations. I actually enjoyed this one more...I loved the suspense, the mystery, the wolves, the respect for nature. I understand Migrations is being adapted for the big screen and I sincerely hope Once There Were Wolves is also made into a movie. The author’s degree in screenwriting definitely comes through in her writing as the books scream to be made into movies. These books are some of my favorite reads of 2020 and 2021 and I very much look forward to her future work!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars! Charlotte McConaghy has written another great tale in Once There Were Wolves. I love that she brings important environmental issues to the table in the two books I’ve read of hers. Her characters draw me in so quickly because of her writing style. This story is about a set of twins girls, both with obvious issues. Inti is working for a wolf project which is trying to bring wild wolves back to Scotland. The small town of farmers who mostly raise sheep are not a fan of the project or Inti. When two people end up dead, the wolves are blamed immediately. But should they be? Aggie the other twin is mostly silent and communicates by a made up sign language. But why? Buy this book on August 3, 2021 to find out! I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

" I had always known there was something different about me, 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."

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"'They’re more dangerous than we are.'
'Are they?' I ask. 'They are wilder, certainly.'
'Isn’t it the same?'
'I don’t think so. I think it’s civilization makes us violent. We infect each other.'”

Inti Flynn had always had a feel for nature. Her father had been a woodsman, first working for a lumber company, then, later, living a mostly solo subsistence life, in Canada, trying his best not to contribute to the global demise. He taught Inti and her twin, Aggie, about how to live in and with the wild. Their mother, a detective in Australia, was more concerned with teaching them how to contend with the wild in civilization. There is a lot in here about parents, of both the human and lupine persuasion, teaching children or pups how to cope in the world, how to defend against predators. The human sorts offer different approaches, some counseling firm defenses, others advising understanding, and some resorting to extreme kinetic measures. There are plenty of parents teaching questionable lessons.

"Dad used to tell me that my greatest gift was that I could get inside the skin of another human. That I could feel what nobody else could, the life of another, really feel it and roll around in it. That the body knows a great deal and I have the miraculous ability to know more than one body. The astonishing cleverness of nature. He also taught us that compassion was the most important thing we could learn. If someone hurt us, we needed only empathy, and forgiveness would be easy."

Inti’s gift is not metaphorical. Her ability to experience what others feel, gives her a unique advantage in understanding both wildlife and people. It also makes her very vulnerable.

"I am unlike most people. I move through life in a different way, with an entirely unique understanding of touch. Before I knew its name I knew this. To make sense of it, it is called a neurological condition. Mirror-touch synesthesia. My brain re-creates the sensory experiences of living creatures, of all people and even sometimes animals; if I see it I feel it, and for just a moment I am them, we are one and their pain or pleasure is my own. It can seem like magic and for a long time I thought it was, but really it’s not so far removed from how other brains behave: the physiological response to witnessing someone’s pain is a cringe, a recoil, a wince. We are hardwired for empathy. Once upon a time I took delight in feeling what others felt. Now the constant stream of sensory information exhausts me. Now I’d give anything to be cut free."

McConaghy’s prior novel, Migrations, looked at the demise of wildlife (birds in particular, and even more particularly terns) in a slightly future world. In this one, she continues her interest in the impact of people on the natural environment. Officially, the last wolf in Scotland was killed in 1680. There are reports of wolves being seen as late as 1888, but Scotland has been essentially wolf-free for well over three centuries. Sadly for Scottish woodlands, it has not been farmer, sheep, or climate-change-free. Part of the problem is that the local deer population tends to linger in place long enough to lay waste to new shoots. A great way to keep them on the move is to reintroduce wolves. Good for the goal of restoring natural forest, re-wilding at least part of Scotland is good for the health of the deer population as well. Thus, Inti’s presence. She is leading a team charged with re-introducing a small population of wolves to a remote part of Scotland, near the Cairngorms, a mountainous area in the highlands.

As one might imagine, there is considerable resistance among farmers concerned about the potential loss of livestock. The minimal-to-non-existent actual danger to humans is played up by those opposed to the reintroduction. Battle lines are drawn. The program has official sanction, but the locals have guns, and itchy fingers. And then someone goes missing. Inti’s primary concern is with the danger to the program, as she expects her wolves to be blamed.

The mystery for us is why, and how this person vanished. After a meet-cute early in the book, Inti and the local sheriff, Duncan MacTavish, team up, in a way, to try figuring out what happened. There are other mysteries as well, albeit of a different sort. What happened to Inti’s sister that had left her so damaged? Is Duncan trustworthy? The book alternates between the present and looking back at two periods in Inti’s and Aggie’s lives, with their father in British Columbia, where they learned how to live off the land, and as adults, when Inti was working on a wolf project in Alaska.

Inti struggles with her desire to protect her wolves, and her need to engage with the locals as something other than as a know-it-all outsider. The complexity of the town’s social relations is quite fascinating. Duncan is our eyes on this, and a big help to Inti, knowing so well the people in the community in which he had grown up, understanding motivations, relationships, and local history much better than any outsider could.

Abuse is a central issue, in both the Old and the New World, whether at the hands of the distraught, the damaged, or the downright evil. Multiple characters in Scotland come from homes in which there was violence, whether against spouses, children, or both. It is clear that one of the locals has beaten his wife. Other instances of family violence are important to the story. The abuse that does take place is mostly done off-screen, reported, but not seen first-hand. Inti’s attempt at restoring the Scottish landscape, of giving new opportunities to a much-reviled species mirrors her attempt to heal, to restore the vitality of her own family.

One can probably make too much of it (I am sure I did), but I found it fun to look at the wolves for indications of comparison to the human characters. Was Inti like Six (the wolves are given numbers not names, for the most part). Who might be lone wolves? Who is fiercest in protecting their pack/family? Who are the alphas?

There is much resonance with Migrations. Both leads are working far from home. Both are trying to do something to help in a world that seems set against accepting any. Although she has her sister with her in Wolves, Inti is primarily a solo actor. She finds a family of a sort with charming, and not-so-charming locals, in the way that Franny Stone in Migrations teamed up with the fishing boat crew. Like Franny, Inti bears the burden of deep, traumatic family secrets. Like Franny, she is trying to find her true home, whether that be in Scotland, Canada, Australia, or maybe wherever the wolves are. Inti has a near-magical power of sensitivity. Franny had special abilities in the water. Like Franny, Inti teams up with a guy in a position of some power. In Migrations it was Ennis Malone, captain of a fishing boat. Here it is Duncan McTavish, the local sheriff. In both novels McConaghy shows the concerns of those imperiled by the front lines of attempts to correct a bad ecological situation. Of the two, this novel struck me as a bit more optimistic about the possibilities of making meaningful change.

In the real world, wolves have not been officially introduced back into Scotland, but there is one wealthy individual who is looking at doing so in a limited way. Who knows? Maybe the re-wilding of Scotland is not entirely a pipe dream.

Once There Were Wolves offers a close look at the issues involved in programs of this sort. The locals are accorded plenty of respect for and insight into their legitimate concerns, as we get to see past the rejectionist veneer. Very hard choices must be made, and the decision-making is very adult. Inti is a tough young woman with a challenging responsibility. It is easy to care about what happens to her. McConaghy keeps the action flowing, so there is no danger of losing interest. The main mystery is very intriguing and the final explanation is twisty and wonderful, with Inti finding her inner Miss Marple to sleuth her way to the truth. Once you sink your canines into this one, you will not want to let go. There are hankie moments as well. Tears will be shed. Set in a wintry place, it seems an ideal book to cool off with in the hot summer months. (Of course, if you read this in cooler months, it is distinctly possible that you will be wearing some wool, and thus will be reading a book about wolves while in sheep’s clothing. Just sayin’.) It seems appropriate to keep a modest supply of whiskey near to hand, just for ambience, of course. Or for those of the teetotaler persuasion, maybe some Irn-Bru. As for the best place in which to read this book, and read it you should, that should be obvious, in a den.

"There is violence in me, in my hands, which vibrate with the need to exert some kind of control, some defiance, and if it is revenge for the things that have been taken from me then fine, I will have that too. I am done with falling prey. I will be predator, at last. I will forget the walls and the self-protection and I will become the thing I hunt and feel it all."


Review posted – July 9, 2021

Publication date – August 3, 2021

I received an eARE of OTWW in return for a fair review. Thanks to Amelia at Flatiron, and to NetGalley for facilitating.

For the full review, with proper formatting, images, and links, please head over to my GR posting - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3990751561

I love to read and am an avid reader. I don't, however, usually get very emotional while reading. This book was different. It affected me so deeply that I wept. It entered my being and created beauty and turmoil that I'd never experienced before. It's one of the best books I've read in a very long time.

Inti and Aggie are twins that travel to the highlands of Scotland where Inti is directing the Cairngorns Wolf Project. Its purpose is rewilding the highlands, introducing wolves to the area that was once their natural habitat in an effort to defray climate change. Once this land was covered with trees but now it is mostly barren except for deer, low growth and farming. The farmers are opposed to the project and fear that the wolves will kill their livestock. Inti explains that sheep and cows are not the natural prey of wolves and that in a natural environment they are likely to hunt the wild deer. Despite Inti's explanation, the farmers are not welcoming.

Inti has a condition called mirror-touch synesthesia wherein her brain causes her body to feel the sensations that she sees. Whatever Inti sees, she feels. Aggie, Inti's twin, doesn't speak since she experienced a trauma that is referred to in the novel but is only slowly explored. Inti and Aggie communicate through sign language.

Once the wolves are introduced to the highlands, Inti becomes very involved in their comings and goings. They all have gps collars and can be sighted by the central tracking system. Inti is determined to remain solitary and not get involved with anyone on an. intimate level. This plan falls apart when she meets Duncan, the police chief. It further dissolves when a dead man is found, apparently the victim of a wolf attack. She is determined to get to the bottom of this death.

The language of this novel is riveting and poetic. I was so involved in my reading that there was nothing else. My senses were all focused on my reading experience and I was part of Inti's world. At one point in the novel Inti says, "When you open your heart to rewilding a landscape, the truth is, you're opening your heart to rewilding yourself." What I found is that when I opened my heart to this phenomenal novel I created a path that took me to new experiences and profound beauty.

I really enjoyed "Migrations" by Charlotte McConaghy, and was eagerly awaiting her new novel "Once There Were Wolves". McConaghy has a way of developing flawed characters that care about nature and the conservation of our planet. The main character of this novel is Inti Flynn, and her mission in life is to bring back wolves to the Scottish Highlands. Facing opposition from the town, Inti and her fellow scientists bond with the wolves, and gradually have success with releasing several packs into the wild. Of course, trouble ensues when one of the male wolves is killed by an angry sheep farmer. Inti not only stirs up the residents of the town, she attracts the attention of a young policeman, and she finds herself entangled in a complicated affair.
The novel moves forward and backward exposing secrets of Inti and her twin, Aggie, who had a very unsettled childhood and suffered trauma in their early twenties. When a local farmer suspected of abusing his wife is missing, Inti makes a choice to save her wolves above all else. When the townspeople and policeman start to investigate the crime it is difficult to know whom to trust and believe - so many people have secrets, including Inti herself. A riveting read. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy to review.

I jumped at the chance to review this one, after loving McConaghy's debut book, Migrations.

Once There Were Wolves takes on similar themes as Migrations, specifically the impact of humans on climate change. But while Migrations has a grim outlook, with a specific bird being almost extinct, there is more hope for the wolves here. Inti, our main character, is involved in a project to reintroduce wolves to Scotland, in order to balance the ecosystem there. She faces resistance from the locals who worry about the impact of these "dangerous" creatures on their livestock.

Like Migrations, the story revolves around these animals but also the relationships of the researcher herself. There is a mystery to be solved, when one of the townspeople is found dead and the wolves are blamed. While Migrations is more character-driven, Once There Were Wolves borders on a thriller with this central mystery, But it does not lose the heart of the commentary on humans' impact on the environment.

I enjoyed how the story switched between the wolves and their dynamics in the new territory and the interactions between the locals. The flashbacks to Inti's past with her sister were a bit much for me at times, though I appreciated how they moved the story to its conclusion.

My one complaint was the pacing in the last third of the book. The story mostly moves at a slow pace and then, all of the sudden, it felt like 100 different things happened in the last third. The book is so short, so I wish that this last part had been elaborated on a little further. In general, though, I was impressed by how well all the different themes of the story wove together to this conclusion.

This was a strong follow-up to Migrations and I hope that it sees the same amount of success.

Since I loved Migrations, I knew I would like this book as well. Inti and twin Aggie are on a quest to re-locate wolves to the Scottish woods, and as a biologist, Inti is fascinated by their behavior--also because she has "mirror-touch synesthesia which means she can literally "feel" another's emotions and actually re-lives those moments. The townspeople, of course, are up in arms; who wants more wolves here? But there's also a great mystery involved and that drives the second part of the book. McConaghy is a skillful writer as she balances past and present with detail that keeps you reading until the end!

Firstly, I would like to thank Flatiron Books for providing a digital copy of this novel via NetGalley.
I was really looking forward to reading this novel as Migrations was my favorite book I read in 2020. Once There Were Wolves tells the story of Inti Flynn, who accompanied by her twin sister Aggie, moves to Scotland from Alaska on a rewilding effort involving 14 wolves. As part of a group with other biologists and a veterinarian, the plan is to release the wolves from their pens in a larger attempt to slow climate change. They are immediately met with opposition from townspeople. About 40% into the book, a mystery is set up that drives the plot the rest of the way. The author uses flashbacks that help both fill in the gaps of Inti's past and to understand her motivations. Inti slowly pieces together the puzzle at the center of the story. Throughout the novel, the author captivates the reader with great detail of wolf behavior as well as beautiful depictions of the Scottish highlands. Much like Migrations, at the core of this novel, is a story not just about the importance of conservation efforts but one of overcoming trauma.
The author was able to successfully navigate both aspects of the story quite well and I found the ending ultimately satisfying. I recommend this novel.

Once There Were Wolves is set in the Scotland Highlands, where Inti Flynn monitors wolves returned to the wild, and battles a reluctant community of farmers while tending her damaged twin sister Aggie.
Mesmerizing prose.
#NetGalley
#OnceThereWereWolves

Wolves don't wander. They move with purpose.

Charlotte McConaghy creates a brilliant novel that, in definite contrast, leans into the perplexing attitude of humans.......creatures who meander through life tasting aimlessly from proffered cups. And when the eventual flame is finally sparked, humans will pursue their wishes and desires relentlessly forcing naysayers aside at all costs.

McConaghy introduces us to Inti Flynn and her twin sister, Aggie, born in Australia and raised in the forests of British Columbia. The twins spent most of their time with their father in the forests following his rule of subsistence: Hunt only what you need and then give back to the ecosystem in return. Inti later became a biologist while Aggie excelled in languages.

Inti's latest assignment is the rewilding of wolves in the remote Highlandsof Scotland where the animals had not existed for hundreds of years. Even Mary Queen of Scots had hunted wolves for sport. The world has been hard on wolves eradicating their numbers due to starvation, illness, fights, and mostly being hunted down by humans.

Aggie accompanies Inti to Scotland as well. McConaghy hints at a severe situation that caused Inti and Aggie to leave their prior assignment in Alaska under some questionable circumstances. As readers, we sense something heavy took place, but McConaghy isn't about to show her cards yet.

As Inti and her team members of Wolf Trust settle into the Highlands, they are met with resistance from the local farmers and sheep herders. Even though a prior project was successful in Yellowstone National Park in America, the landowners are highly skeptical and Inti feels their threats and accusations. When a local man goes missing, the town fears the worse. Inti starts to have doubts herself about which direction this experiment is going. But she stands firmly with the 14 grey wolves brought onto this land. Determination.......like a lit match.

Charlotte McConaghy gifted us with her prior novel, Migrations, which stands as one of my favorite reads. Once There Were Wolves crosses back and forth into the gray areas of tolerance and acceptance in both the animal and in the human world. McConaghy does a superb job of keeping her finger on the pulse of what drives us to persevere under the most dire of circumstances. Just how far will we go to protect me and mine? Raw, graphic at times, and brutally honest, Once There Were Wolves speaks to a truth that we sometimes deny to even our own selves. Simply outstanding.

I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Flatiron Books and to the talented Charlotte McConaghy for the opportunity.

As a backyard birdwatcher who loved McConaghy’s “Migrations,” I was initially unsure how much I would like a book about wolves. Of course, I should have realized this wouldn’t actually be about wolves but more about the human experience. And as much as I loved “Migrations,” I loved this one even more.

McConaghy has a gift for setting a scene that you don’t just read about. You actually feel it and become invested in the characters. Thematically, I noticed many similarities to “Migrations,” which are important topics for everyone inhabiting a world with so much change. The book leaves you with a lot to think about, namely how much we all are connected to a bigger whole.

A great followup to Migrations! This novel is darkly atmospheric and drew me in quickly to the story. There are a lot of overlapping elements in this novel, giving it more layers than I was anticipating. I felt the end got a little convoluted, but still really enjoyed this one. Will definitely be recommending it to my patrons who love darker mysteries and cli-fi.

This book blew me away. I was a big fan of Migrations, and was ecstatic about the opportunity to read an early copy of McConaghy's newest book. I was completely enthralled in this story from the very beginning and was in awe of McConaghy's ability to, once again, beautifully capture the complicated nature and relationship between humans and the environment.

With the re-introduction of the wolves to the Scottish Highlands, Inti, the main character, and her team of scientists are confronted with anger, fear, and frustration from the local folks. Many of the farmers are concerned about their livestock, and the people are afraid for their own lives. There is a constant push and pull nature between the scientists, the wolves, and the locals. With Inti's ability to feel intimately feel what others are experiencing through her mirror-touch synesthesia, you really gain an insight into all of these different perspectives.

McConaghy is brilliant at developing characters, and you really get to know them so well throughout the story. At times, I was rooting for some and utterly disgusted by others. The range of emotions I felt throuhgout this one made it a memorable one.

I loved the multi-lateral description of emotions, thoughts, and flashbacks that was woven within this story. I really can't wait to see what the author has in store next! I know I will definitely be reading it.

Thank you to Flatiron Books for an advanced reader's copy. All opinions are my own.

Once There Were Wolves was absolutely stunning. I could not put this book down!
A beginning that hooks you, characters that will have you feeling every sort of way, action and twists that have your mind spinning!
Honestly it blew me away. I sucked the writing in. I was completely blown away by McConaghy style!
This was just outstanding. And I devoured it all!

Thank you NetGalley, Flatiron Books and author for this compelling book!

I adored McConaghy’s first book, Migrations, and was very excited to dive into this one. Atmospheric and absorbing, it consumed me. 4.5 stars.

A beautiful and stunning follow up to Migrations. The writing is so good and I became so emotionally invested in the story. Five stars!

Charlotte McConaghy does it again! Once There Were Wolves is a beautifully written novel that captures “the infinite mystery of wolves” and of man as well. Inti is a scientist charged with reintroducing a pack of gray wolves into the forest surrounding a small community in Scotland. We witness the struggles of man versus animal and predator versus prey. Wilder and more savage than Migrations, but equally as compelling; McConnaghy is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Thank you Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.