Author: Charlotte McConaghy
Published: March 4, 2025 by Flatiron Books
Format: Hardcover, 300 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Blurb: 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.
A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.
My Opinion: I’ll be honest, this book didn’t sweep me away at first. For the first two-thirds, I found myself drifting. Not bored, exactly, but questioning whether the journey was worth it. Charlotte McConaghy has managed to combine literary fiction, thriller, and a TED Talk on climate change, all in one.
The final hundred pages hit with the force of a wave. Suddenly, the characters weren’t just names on a page. They were flesh and soul. Rowan, Dominic, Fen, Raff, and Orly each carry their own burdens, and each one cracked me open in a different way. But it is Orly, who carries the book with his innocence, that will break your heart and stay with you for a long time.
Shearwater, the wild coastal setting, isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a living, breathing force. It mirrors the characters’ pain and resilience, shaping them as much as they shape each other, with its sacred, brutal, and heartbreaking beauty.
At its heart, this is a story about family, not the glossy kind, but the raw, fractured, deeply human kind. It’s about how we break, how we lose our way, and how, if we’re lucky, we find our way back through grief, courage, and the quiet faith that healing is possible.
I picked up Wild Dark Shore because of the buzz. I nearly put it down more than once. But I’m glad I didn’t. It took me somewhere unexpected and gave me truths I didn’t know I needed. It reminded me that sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones that sneak up on you and then refuse to let go.
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.
A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.
My Opinion: I’ll be honest, this book didn’t sweep me away at first. For the first two-thirds, I found myself drifting. Not bored, exactly, but questioning whether the journey was worth it. Charlotte McConaghy has managed to combine literary fiction, thriller, and a TED Talk on climate change, all in one.
The final hundred pages hit with the force of a wave. Suddenly, the characters weren’t just names on a page. They were flesh and soul. Rowan, Dominic, Fen, Raff, and Orly each carry their own burdens, and each one cracked me open in a different way. But it is Orly, who carries the book with his innocence, that will break your heart and stay with you for a long time.
Shearwater, the wild coastal setting, isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a living, breathing force. It mirrors the characters’ pain and resilience, shaping them as much as they shape each other, with its sacred, brutal, and heartbreaking beauty.
At its heart, this is a story about family, not the glossy kind, but the raw, fractured, deeply human kind. It’s about how we break, how we lose our way, and how, if we’re lucky, we find our way back through grief, courage, and the quiet faith that healing is possible.
I picked up Wild Dark Shore because of the buzz. I nearly put it down more than once. But I’m glad I didn’t. It took me somewhere unexpected and gave me truths I didn’t know I needed. It reminded me that sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones that sneak up on you and then refuse to let go.
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