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ONE TIME THERE Wolves
by Charlotte McConaghy
In “Once Upon a Wolves,” the sequel to her debut novel in 2020, “migrationsAccompanied by another brave and damaged protagonist, Australian writer Charlotte McConaghy returns to familiar areas of environmental disaster, buried trauma, the wonder of the natural world. Inti Flynn, who describes herself as “a grumpy Australian who finds it difficult and lousy when speaking in public”, may not be an ideal candidate to head the Cairngorms Wolf Project.
Inti and his crack team of wolf biologists traveled from Alaska to Scotland with 14 gray wolves, whose release is hoped to restore an ancient balance to the Highlands ecosystem: Fewer deer will allow woodland to sprawl, capture carbon and increase biodiversity. (Sarah Hall’s 2015 “Wolf Border” had a similar premise, but was set in the Lake District.) Unfortunately, locals aren’t sold on the idea. Inti stands up at a public meeting, angered by people worried about the safety of her sheep and children: “If you really think wolves are bloodshed, then you’re blind,” she says. “we do this. We are human killers, we are child killers. NS monsters.”
So Inti’s insurance is so short, but that’s not surprising because the planet worries about wolves and a local woman with a wild husband, as well as her once wild and spirited twin, Aggie. now mute and barely responsive in their rented hut across the valley. Aggie has been “solved” by a recent horrific incident in Anchorage, the details of which trickle down to the reader with hints of traumas older than the twins’ family history.
Oh, and Inti also notes that her brain “recreates the sensory experiences of living creatures, all humans, and sometimes even animals; If I see, I feel, and for a moment I am them, we are one, and their pain or pleasure is mine.” A wolf biologist with severe borderline issues, Inti feels the pain and hunger of wolves as they do, must close her eyes before firing calming arrows at them, and is often more prone to sentimentality and anthropomorphism than scientific rigor – none of which affects her professionalism. , of course.
There’s a lot going on here, and that’s before someone gets a bad ending in the woods. Maybe the wolves are the culprit, or maybe Inti’s big neighbor Duncan MacTavish says things like “You’re blowing so hot and cold, wolf girl,” and will soon have intense mirror touch sex with her. No one seems to care that Duncan is the chief suspect in the jungle death as well as the chief of police investigating the case.
Pretty early on, I started to worry that McConaghy wasn’t completely in control of his material. An eco-thriller about re-wildness should deliver the setting and atmosphere, but once Inti emerges from the woods, she finds herself in a strange and unconvincing Scotland, where someone wearing a “traditional plaid skirt” can talk about cops and prized mustangs and get there. A pub to order a pitcher of beer brought to the table by a waiter. Midges is only mentioned twice.
While this small rural community may seem steeped in brutal secrets, much of the plot and characterization seems rushed and messy as a vehicle for environmental messaging. “What else is being done to brutalize Scotland again?” Inti asked. You feel the gears grinding when he asks. This is a heartfelt and serious novel—in every chapter there is evidence of an author striving for the cathedral rhythm, that painful note of eloquence—but sincerity does not guarantee a satisfying read.
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