Carol's Reviews > Once There Were Wolves

I started this story with some anxiety. The novel is about rewilding the wolf predator near a rural farm area of the Scottish Highlands. The tension between the local sheep farmers and the wolves was inevitable, and I wasn’t sure that I would have the stomach for a story that might include animal abuse. Parts of the story were disturbing, yet compulsively readable, and once I settled into the story, I couldn’t put it down.

The main character, Inti Flynn, is a biologist that released the wolf pack into the Highlands. She has a neurological disorder which causes her to feel touch sensations of others and likely to overidentify with the wolves. I loved reading about Inti’s intense connection to her wolf project and attempts to care for and protect the wolves and their offspring.

The novel gradually reveals past secrets as the story unfolds. Those revelations expose most of the characters to be damaged in some way yet capable of healing.

The writing is lyrical and compelling to the end. Recommended!