Book Summary and Reviews of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

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Cloggie Downunder

A gripping, thought-provoking read.
“All we need to do is keep our mouths shut.”

Wild Dark Shore is the third stand-alone adult novel by Australian author, Charlotte McConaghy. When the woman washes up on the shore of Sheerwater Island, the first priority for the Salt family is to try to save her, however unlikely it may be that she’ll survive. But questions are already forming in Dominic Salt’s mind: How did she get here? And why come here?

Sheerwater is close to nothing except Antarctica; it’s only claim to fame is the Sheerwater Global Seed Vault and the research station attached to it, now deserted. They have a two-month wait before the ship comes for the seeds, now under threat of rising sea levels, and Dominic, the island’s caretaker is wary of anything that might threaten the safety of those seeds, but even moreso, that of his children.

When the woman regains consciousness, it’s to the voice of nine-year-old Orly Salt expounding on his favourite subject, plants and seeds. Rowan is stitched up and cared for, but has reasons to not reveal much more than her name. She is surprised to learn that the four Salts are the only people left on Sheerwater.

And as caring as they are, they are also a little strange: seventeen-year-old Fen spends all her free time on the shore with the seals and penguins, sleeping in the boatshed; eighteen-year-old Raff seems to carry a lot of grief and anger, which he tries to expend on the punching bag on the top floor of the lighthouse that is their home; Dominic, always busy checking and repairing, can be heard talking to his late wife when alone; Orly’s passion for all lifeforms is apparent, but he also hears the voices of the island’s dead animals on the wind.

Rowan is absorbed into the island routine, but her exploratory forays raise questions, and it becomes apparent that the Salts are hiding something…

Multiple not-necessarily-reliable narrators relate a story that takes place in a rugged, inhospitable setting where cold and rough weather are not the only threats to life. Occasional flashbacks fill out a tale that will keep the reader guessing and the pages turning right up to the dramatic climax. McConaghy’s gorgeous descriptive prose easily evokes her setting and the harsh conditions faced, even as she gives the reader characters with depth and appeal. A gripping, thought-provoking read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House Australia.

Becky

Love and trust
I am happy to say that this is the first book I’ve read by Charlotte McConnaghy, and am excited to know there are more novels by the same author out there that I will need to read!

As an atmospheric work of speculative eco-fiction, this book successfully captures the stark, brutal nature of life on an island in a relentlessly dominant and encroaching sea.

As a mystery, A Wild Dark Shore kept me highly engaged as Rowan, a woman washed up on the island’s shore, and Dom, the father of the children inhabiting the island, skirt around the reasons they are on the island, and the secrets they are holding.

Mostly, however, I was overtaken with the book’s exploration into what it means to be a parent in an unsafe world. I am well beyond my child-bearing years, but this book really made me question whether I would have the courage to be a parent in today’s reality.

Although this book was at times ominous and foreboding, it emanated the positive forces of love and trust needed in a family — and subsequently in the world — when our very existence may be heading towards a darker place.

Jill

Impossible Choices
WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy

Read by: Cooper Mortlock; Katherine Littrell; Saskia Maarleveld; Steve West

All of the readers did a great job of narrating this book. Saskia Maarleveld is a favorite narrator of mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the Advanced Audiobook

An eco-fiction thriller with the theme of the world in crisis because of climate change, but told without preaching. Set on the remote island of, Shearwater, between Australia and Antarctica—is a research station where scientists have been studying environmental change. The island is receding and will soon disappear. Researchers have left and Dominic, the island’s caretaker and his three kids will be picked up on a second ship. A woman, Rowan, washes ashore unconscious. Why is this woman anywhere near Shearwater, Dominic is wondering and why is the family here alone, Rowan is wondering, after she has come around. Suspicions grow, dark secrets come to light, and the impossible choices we make to protect those we love, are all in this adventurous dark medium-paced read.

I enjoy Charlotte McConaghy’s beautifully written works and her story telling of the challenges of protecting the environment. I liked her previous books, Migrations, and Once There Were Wolves.

Other books by Charlotte McConaghy at BookBrowse