Once There Were Wolves

“When we were eight, Dad cut me open from throat to stomach.”

The novel’s first line encapsulates several themes. It foreshadows Inti’s mirror-touch synesthesia and her connection to violence in nature. It introduces her father, whose guidance in teaching her to hunt and track will be key to her survival as the plot progresses.

“Both cottage and camp sit on the edge of Abernethy Forest, one of the last remnants of the ancient Caledonian Forest that arrived here after the Ice Age. These old trees belong to an unbroken, 9,000-year evolutionary chain, and it’s within them that we placed the closest wolf pen, the one containing wolves Six, Nine, and Thirteen.”

This section provides the context for the wolves’ rewilding. The ancient history of the forest is juxtaposed with the modern efforts of humans to control the landscape, which has resulted in its dying. The wolves are part of the forest’s ancient lineage, and their reintroduction symbolizes returning the forest to its natural state.

“This is how the trees speak with and care for each other. Their roots tangle together, dozens of trees with dozens more in a web that reaches on forever, and they whisper to each other through their roots. They warn of danger and they share sustenance. They’re like us, a family. Stronger together. Nothing gets through this life alone.”

This paragraph is a clear statement of the novel’s thesis: Humans and nature are stronger together. The statement “Nothing gets through this life alone” refers to nature on a large scale and to Inti in her personal life.