Once There Were Wolves, Charlotte McConaghy

Once There Were Wolves, Charlotte McConaghy

Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction

Well, wow. I wasn’t sure about this story, but I’m so glad I requested. Its a fantastic read, had me engrossed all through, unable to put aside. That first opening line grabbed me, I love a story that does that – says “Hey! Look!”

Its more an immersive experience than a story for me, when Inti was feeling things, I was feeling them with her. She had such a strong determination to do what she believed in, really did feel it was healing the land, and with her special issues she understood very much how the land and its inhabitants were feeling. Does doping the right thing for the wrong reasons matter? Does doing the wrong thing for the right reasons? And who gets to determine what is wrong and right, there are times when the line gets very blurred.
We see too how much our pasts, our backgrounds shape us, determine how we see things, our actions and beliefs. I really liked that this story went beyond simply what people did but looked at their pasts, often before we saw the actions, so we perhaps understood more. It raised so many questions for me.
Like many I’ve seen the video of how reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone park changed the landscape, brought in so many formerly lost species, even changed the course of the river. Its that mighty oaks from acorns grow stuff. Small changes really can bring huge improvements. Its so inspiring. Here where I live in rural north Norfolk there have been moves to reintroduce sea eagles, but as in this story they are heavily resisted by local farmers.
Inti’s actions, made me think. What would I do? I’d like to think I’d make a different decision about the farmer but who knows? We really can’t understand someone’s actions unless we’ve lived their life. There are so many little twists here too, some I suspected, others caught me out completely.
Its a lovely ending, felt like the story had gone full circle.

Stars: Five, a gripping, fascinating read.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers