Wild Dark Shore

When Rowan washes up on Shearwater island after a storm, she is lucky to be alive. She hopes to find her husband, a botanist working at the seed bank there, but only finds the caretaker, Dominic Salt, and his 3 kids. With little power and no way to contact the mainland, they form an uneasy relationship troubled by the mysterious absence of the botanist and the slow failure of the refrigeration that protects the seeds.

This book lives up to its hype. Shearwater is perfectly depicted, full of natural wonder but eerie in its isolation. You can‘t help falling in love with the Salt family, especially the kids who are open-hearted but clearly burdened by dark secrets. With deeply drawn characters and a palpable atmosphere, Wild Dark Shore is show more an unforgettable story of profound loss and love that grows from ashes. show less

Wild Dark Shore. I was hooked on this story after the first chapter. A woman, close to death by drowning and hyperthermia, washes up on the Arctic shore of a remote island. The woman, Rowan, is dragged up to the lighthouse and cared for by Dominic Salt and his three children. She has grave injuries requiring stitches where jagged rocks tore her body open.

When Rowan awakens the little boy, Orly Salt, asks her name.

"I'm Orly Salt. And you're on an island in the middle of the Southern Ocean, fifteen hundred kilometers from any other landmass. Closest is Antarctica. So my question for you is: How did you get here Rowan?"

She is on Shearwater island, an island one hundred and twenty kilometers squared. It's a tundra climate with many species show more of plants and hundreds of sea lions, seals and the last colony of royal penguins in the world. It's also a research island where millions of seeds are stored to repopulate the earth after flooding.

All of them have secrets and as soon as you think one has sinister intentions, you get their backstory. You've heard the saying - don't-judge-a-book-by-it's-cover - and the reveals of all the characters took me by surprise, just when I thought I was figuring them out.

Rowan does not reveal her husband Hank is a reseacher who sent alarming emails to her while she was in their Australian home. Dominic Salt, the father, doesn't know she is Hank's wife (at first) and there is quite a story there about Hank. Other researchers seem to have vanished, the children (Raff, Fen and Orly) have lived on the island for the last eight years with their widowed father and I don't think any of them are thrilled to be leaving for civilization. You are plunged into the cold, the storms and I hate to use this overused descriptor but it's atmospheric. 5 stars. show less

This incredible novel totally immersed me in a world I know nothing about - a remote island halfway between Australia and the Antarctic. A woman washes up on shore and a family who are caretakers for the island- a man and his three children - rescue her and take her in. The island used to be home to a group of scientists and a vault holding precious seeds from plants all over the world that were being housed there to preserve them in the face of climate change. The island is rugged and beautiful and home to endangered species. But the scientists are inexplicably all gone and the family is harboring secrets. So is the woman. The story slowly unfolds as the woman and family grow closer. In addition to the human drama, the reader learns show more about the animals and plants that are disappearing from the earth and the tragedies climate have has already caused. I listened to this novel and felt like I was there on the island with them. show less

Several years ago, I reluctantly picked up Charlotte McConaghy's debut novel, Migrations. It just didn't seem like the sort of novel I wanted to read. How incredibly wrong I was. Fast forward to this year when, despite Migrations being one of my top ten books for the year when I read it, I was conflicted by the idea of Wild Dark Shore. I bought it but then read everything else but it until finally, something pushed me to pick it up. And once again, I wondered why I hadn't devoured this tense and gripping novel immediately.

Opening with an injured woman rescued from the freezing water around Shearwater Island, this is cli-fi, a thriller, a warning, and a beautifully written literary novel all wrapped in one. Rowan is badly injured and show more nursed back to health by Dominic Salt, the island and former research base's caretaker, and his three children, Raff, Fen, and Orly. Dominic doesn't trust Rowan. Why would she be coming to Shearwater, this remote island near Antarctica? Rowan doesn't trust Dominic either. She's asking questions about the now abandoned research base and is skeptical about his assertion that all their communications equipment has been destroyed, severing their connection to mainland Australia. While Rowan and Dominic might be wary of each other and the secrets each senses the other is keeping, the Salt children are much more open to this enigmatic woman who has arrived on their shores, especially the youngest child, nine-year-old Orly who has a keen interest in the seeds kept in the seed vault on the island, a vault which is now in danger of imminent collapse due to encroaching sea water. As the sea water continues to rise and the characters have no choice but to wait six weeks for the scheduled arrival of the ship coming to evacuate them and the most vital of the banked seeds, so does the tension in the novel. All five of the characters narrate their own stories, giving glimpses of their pasts, fleshing out their characters, and sharing their tragic losses with the reader.

McConaghy's evocation of a windswept island being inexorably consumed by the sea, the wild life that makes their home on its shores, and the plants that survive in such an inhospitable environment made even more inhospitable by climate change is beautiful. Her slow reveals of each character's secrets, even as they forge deeper relationships to each other keep the reader turning the pages. There is an otherworldly feel to the novel but also a sense of reckoning, both for the characters and for the reader who must acknowledge that this apocalyptic version of the world could be scarily prescient. And although this is a novel grappling with the damage that human beings do to the earth, to the animals and plants around us, to each other, it is also a novel about love and hope and perseverence. Grief winds its way throughout the narrative but so does deep love. This is a stunning read. show less

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy completely consumes you. As a reader, you feel as though you’re living on Shearwater Island alongside the Salt family—Dom and his three children become your companions, and even the island’s fauna and flora linger in your dreams.
This is a powerful and beautifully written story about a father and his children trying to keep a remote island alive while running a struggling seed vault and research station, both under threat from climate change and global warming. At the same time, the family is grieving the loss of their mother, adding an emotional weight that runs through every page.
McConaghy expertly weaves together themes of love, loss, survival, and environmental responsibility. The novel show more invites the reader to reflect on our relationship with nature and the fragile line between life and death—all set within one of the most isolated yet idyllic landscapes imaginable. An excellent, thought-provoking read! show less

Charlotte McConaghy has written another eco-thriller that sucked me in from the first pages. On a remote island near Antarctica, a woman - Rowan - washes up on the shore. She is saved by a family, a father and 3 children, who are living there as caretakers. The island has been used as a place of research and also stores a seed bank. As the story progresses, it's revealed why Rowan was coming to the island and why all the researchers have disappeared. There is clearly foul play, but at whose hands is the question. Rowan and the father, Dominic, begin to forge a relationship though there are clearly big secrets being held on each side.

This all takes place against a backdrop of a wild island that is sinking into the sea due to climate show more change. The weather is intense, the fascinating wildlife is integral to the story, and the vault that the seed bank is in is crumbling as the permafrost melts.

I LOVE the ecological details of the near future that McConaghy always works into her books. They are all too possible and pretty terrifying. I devoured this book and was invested in the characters immediately. But, on the other hand, I was really agitated while reading this. I found it very intense. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm also not sure if that visceral reaction let me overlook some issues with the plot that others might be annoyed by.

I loved McConaghy's first two books, so if you did too, I think you'll enjoy this one. But if her writing isn't for you, just know that this book is in the same vein as Migrations and Once There Were Wolves. show less

Rowan’s boat is caught in a storm while attempting to reach Shearwater, a (fictional) island near Antarctica. The pilot drowns and Rowan washes ashore, severely injured. She is taken in by the island’s lone inhabitants, a father and three children ages 9-18, caretakers of a recently-abandoned research station. As Rowan is nursed back to health she gets the feeling the family is hiding something from her. But Rowan also has secrets of her own.

Truths are revealed in tiny fragments. Dominic, the father, explains they have been tasked with the final shutdown of the research station and while their communication system was destroyed and they can’t call for help, a ship is scheduled to evacuate them in due course. The island is show more threatened by climate breakdown and it’s clear the family would not be able to survive there. In addition to that, they are tasked with dismantling and transporting a massive seed bank that would enable species to be re-planted after devastating environmental impact.

As Rowan regains her strength she begins contributing to the shutdown operation and forms a bond with the family, especially the children. And yet, there are so many unanswered questions about the research station, as well as Rowan’s reasons for traveling to such a remote area. Trust between Rowan and the family waxes and wanes as new information both explains their current situation and raises still more questions. The novel evolves from a survival story to a suspenseful page-turner and an emotional ending I didn’t see coming and had to “process” for a day or so before writing this review. show less