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Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Contemporary fiction

Wild Dark Shore

Repeat author

by Charlotte McConaghy

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Quick Take

On a remote island, a mysterious woman is sheltered by a struggling family. Will she unite them, or break them apart?

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Salacious

    Salacious

  • Illustrated icon, Nature

    Nature

Synopsis

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late―and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.

Content warning

This book contains mentions of suicide and sexual assault.

Why I love it

Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore was the perfect rainy-day read for me, holed up in my apartment on an inclement weekend. This atmospheric and eerie novel swept me away to the other side of the globe—a setting drenched in salt water and ravaged by untamed weather, but threatened most by dangers that are all too human.

Set on Shearwater, a remote island off the coast of Antarctica, Wild Dark Shore tells the story of the Salt family, who are caretakers of the island. Formerly a research station, due to rising sea levels Shearwater is now inhabited only by Dominic Salt and his three children. While inhospitable and challenging, the island is full of stark beauty and allows the family a deep connection with the natural world. As isolation begins to take its toll on the Salts’ dynamics, an unprecedented storm brings with it an unexpected visitor. Who is the mysterious woman who has washed ashore—and what will she discover about the Salt family and the past that has brought them to this remote corner of the world?

This sharp psychological drama explores the turmoil being wrought upon our natural world, and the turmoil that exists within complex family relationships. Wild Dark Shore challenges us to consider how we treat our loved ones and, ultimately, our planet.

Other books by Charlotte McConaghy

Repeat authors
The Bodyguard
Wild Dark Shore
Swan Song
The Night Swim
The Pairing
Hera
Cross Her Heart
The Paradise Problem
A Woman Is No Man
Leave the World Behind
We Are the Brennans
The Rom-Commers
The Silent Patient
The London Séance Society
Magic Lessons
The Four Winds
You Are Not Alone
One by One
Yours Truly
Invisible Girl
The Rules of Magic
Troubles in Paradise
The Lost Apothecary
Things You Save in a Fire
The Great Alone
The Family Upstairs
The Five-Star Weekend
Infinite Country
Part of Your World
Nothing to See Here
The Half Moon
Winter in Paradise
The Shadows
Immortal Longings
Just for the Summer
The Connellys of County Down
Don't Cry for Me
Ask Again, Yes
The Whisper Man
What You Wish For
The Marriage of Opposites
Saint Mazie
The Woman in Cabin 10
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Hello Stranger
The Wife Between Us
In a Holidaze
How to Walk Away
The Summer Wives
An Anonymous Girl
Watching You
Summer of '69
The Turn of the Key
The Last Word
Dark Corners
Foul Lady Fortune
The River We Remember
Evil Eye
No One Can Know
The Soulmate
Beautiful Ugly
Isaac’s Song
Repeat authors
View all
The Bodyguard
Wild Dark Shore
Swan Song
The Night Swim
The Pairing
Hera
Cross Her Heart
The Paradise Problem
A Woman Is No Man
Leave the World Behind
We Are the Brennans
The Rom-Commers
The Silent Patient
The London Séance Society
Magic Lessons
The Four Winds
You Are Not Alone
One by One
Yours Truly
Invisible Girl
The Rules of Magic
Troubles in Paradise
The Lost Apothecary
Things You Save in a Fire
The Great Alone
The Family Upstairs
The Five-Star Weekend
Infinite Country
Part of Your World
Nothing to See Here
The Half Moon
Winter in Paradise
The Shadows
Immortal Longings
Just for the Summer
The Connellys of County Down
Don't Cry for Me
Ask Again, Yes
The Whisper Man
What You Wish For
The Marriage of Opposites
Saint Mazie
The Woman in Cabin 10
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Hello Stranger
The Wife Between Us
In a Holidaze
How to Walk Away
The Summer Wives
An Anonymous Girl
Watching You
Summer of '69
The Turn of the Key
The Last Word
Dark Corners
Foul Lady Fortune
The River We Remember
Evil Eye
No One Can Know
The Soulmate
Beautiful Ugly
Isaac’s Song