Book Review: When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift
About the book
Decades from now, two women sit beside a campfire and reflect on their life stories. Activist Lucy's earliest memories are of living with her grandparents during the 2020 pandemic and discovering her grandmother's love of birds.
Filmmaker Hester was born on the day of the Chornobyl explosion and visits the site years later to film its feral dogs in the Exclusion Zone. Here she meets Lux, the wolf dog who will give her life meaning.
Over half a century, their journeys take them from London to the Highlands to Somerset, through protests, family rifts, and personal tragedy.
Lucy joins the fight to restore Britain's depleted natural habitats and revive the species who once shared the island, whilst Hester strives to give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves.
Both dream of a time when there are wolves again.
Winner of the Best Novel Award from the British Science Fiction Association.
Why we love it
I tend to view science fiction as falling into one of two categories - the madly futuristic kind, with space ships, aliens and far distant galaxies, and the just real enough to be believable kind that's set in a not-too-distant future, compellingly recognisable and all the more disturbing and thought-provoking for it. When There Are Wolves Again is most definitely the latter.
The book opens in 2020 during the Covid pandemic and concludes in 2070, following fifty years of ecological catastrophe and a society bitterly divided on how best to respond to ever-growing challenge of devastating climate change.
The story centres on Lucy and Hester, two women whose lives never quite intersect despite being connected by shared concerns and experiences. Through Lucy's activism and Hester's work as a wildlife filmmaker, the novel explores how re-wilding can offer a path towards recovery - not just for the natural world, but for the people who inhabit it.
Although there's plenty of science fiction books featuring themes of environmental collapse, this one which feels somehow refreshingly different. Without shying away from the horrors of ecological disaster it takes a more hopeful approach, focusing on the positive impact that can be made by passionate, committed individuals working together for a common purpose.
E.J Swift beautifully captures the connections between people, place and the natural environment, with evocative and detailed descriptions of natural habitats as varied as the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, Somerset and the Cairngorms. Yet for a book with such big themes, it still somehow manages to be a surprisingly intimate and character-driven story, firmly rooted in family, friendship and community at all times.
Lucy and Hester are both compelling characters, and I loved seeing how their lives unfolded over time. Their gradual growth in confidence and purpose gives the novel an emotional core that anchors its bigger environmental themes.
A surprisingly hopeful and uplifting novel, this is one which will linger with you long after you'd finished it. Throughly recommended!
