This was a beautiful, honest and thought provoking read that I absolutely devoured. I think it will be my top read of the year!!

Dominic and his three kids are caretakers of a remote island between Australia and Antarctica called Shearwater. It is home to the largest seed bank and was once filled with researchers. When a woman washes up on shore, the Salt family must determine how to go on with a new person among them, and how to keep their secrets safe. How will they protect their millions of seeds?

From the first pages, I was drawn into the authors stunning descriptions, and I loved the different scientific perspectives from the kids. It was easy to fall in love with these characters and to feel their grief, isolation, pain and fear. McConaghy illustrates complex relationships with ease but as I read I could feel the love this family had for one another. This book bends genres with aspects of a thriller, slow burn romance, and also well researched biological information. There were also a couple of twists I did not see coming!

After living on the island for 8 years, things have begun to become more dire, with violent storms, endangered animals, and flooding just to name a few. I was immersed into this world and was glued to the pages of this book late into the night. There are such powerful and impactful messages within about climate change, our earth and family. The realities faced by these characters were confronting, raising countless questions for the reader. The writing throughout was beautiful and I loved the different styles for each characters- Orly and his plants, Fen and her seals, and Raff and his whales. There’s a powerful journey Dominic travels as well through grief, and fatherhood. Wild Dark Shore was atmospheric, haunting and drawing connection between the human spirit and our earth. It was a beautiful and emotional but tumultuous love letter to our earth. Absolutely Breathtaking!

Thank you so much to @netgalley @charlottemcconaghy and @penguinrandomhouse for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was delighted to read this one early!

There's so much to love about McConaghy's latest novel - the story is propulsive and the setting truly comes alive in such a beautiful way. I loved the nature writing and the exploration about what we are collectively doing to our beautiful planet and how some of these consequences might play out. I particularly loved the chapters narrated by Orly that looked at various types of seeds and what makes them unique and incredible.

Unfortunately, overall, it just didn't come together for me the way it has for so many other readers. There are (many) parts in the novel that require the reader to suspend belief on what is possible or likely which is often the case in this genre; however, I struggled to do this here, particularly in the final quarter. I didn't fully believe the central romance plot or their apparent deep emotional connection which I think ultimately left me less emotionally invested and less forgiving when it came to suspending belief for other plot points.

I completely understand why so many people love this book and have no doubt that it will find its audience. Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Australia for the copy of this book.

I really loved reading the book and the story is immersive and it is well written. The gripping mystery of this atmospheric island that weaves in emotions of grief, survival, love and trust makes this book compellingly sad and hopeful.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher Penguin Random House Australia for the ARC.

This was a profoundly moving book.
The plot twists were unpredictable, but not shocking and added to the tender mood.
I’m glad I read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Australia for the arc.

Charlotte McConaghy is no doubt up there with some of the best who write so painfully and beautifully of the insidious and widespread devastation of climate change and all of the ethical dilemmas we humans grapple with in the face of it. WILD DARK SHORE is her latest!

In short, it takes place on a tiny island between Tasmania and Antarctica, where a man and his three children have been its caretakers for about 8 years, all the researchers have abandoned the station and the family is left to pack up one of the last seed banks in existence as the island begins to sink and they wait for their boat ride out of there. Their isolated existence is interrupted though when a woman, barely alive, washes up on the shore….

I found a lot to love about this - the mystery and uneasiness of it’s opening and the set up, the changing of perspectives, particularly between Dominic and Rowan, with each character’s motivations and suspicions dropped like breadcrumbs for the reader, the sense of place and atmosphere invoked by McConaghy’s writing, and her ability to balance a story between humans’ ability to cause extraordinary damage to the planet while being at the complete mercy of its forces of nature. The writing is undeniably captivating and this is a real page turner, no doubt about it.

However this one didn’t quite meet the high expectations I had of it and didn’t seem to pan out where I thought it was going to head. The story started out really great for me but I found it got a bit weighed down in by its own earnestness. I also found I had to pretty much suspend all belief as the story took one twist and turn after another towards the end. I’ve seen other readers really resonate with this book though and find it to be very powerful and moving - which I can also see!

I have no doubt this will fly off the shelves and my gripes didn’t stop me from powering through it. It also hasn’t stopped me from admiring her work or knowing I’ll always pick up anything she writes! Just not sure this is my favourite of hers to date.

Charlotte McConaghy’s third novel Wild Dark Shore is, as the title promises wild. It is a beautiful but also harrowing cautionary tale that fits in the climate fiction category but is also much much more.
Wild Dark Shore opens with the body of a woman, washed ashore on the rocky coast of a small sub-Antarctic island called Shearwater. The woman, who we learn is called Rowan, is patched up and brought back to health by the remaining inhabitants of the island – father Dominic and his three children – Raff, Fen and Orly. Shearwater was a research station but all of the researches have gone. It is also the site of a global repository of seeds, but the storage facility is failing due to the melting permafrost and a rescue mission is coming to salvage as many of the seeds as possible. Rowan has come to the island to find her husband Hank who was the lead researcher, although she keeps this from her rescuers who themselves seem to be holding secrets about the island and what happened to the other people who were working there. But even with all of this obfuscation, Rowan develops relationships with all of the family, helping them and herself heal, at least until those many secrets come to light.
Wild Dark Shore is absolutely a climate story. Set sometime in the near future when fires and floods have affected the mainland and sea level rise is threatening the island and its inhabitants. The seed rescue mission is focussed on replenishing seed stocks needed for human survival, not the decorative or unique. And there is a strong thread in the narrative about whether it is right to bring new children into a world that is under this kind of threat.
While the climate effects drive much of the ticking clock element of the novel, Wild Dark Shore is much than just a clifi novel. Through its limited cast of characters and strict bounds, the island becomes a microcosm through which much broader issues can be distilled down and considered. This is a book about parents and children, about dealing with grief, about what we choose to prioritise and about how we live in the world.
A key aspect of this novel is McConaghy’s description of the island and its animal inhabitants. Shearwater is based on the very real Macquarie Island, a place where in the past sealers and whalers had indiscriminately slaughtered the native wildlife. McConaghy brings the windy, freezing wildness of the island to life but also manages to get across its fragility as rising sea level and temperatures threaten its hardy but delicate ecosystem.
Wild Dark Shore feels more contemplative in its opening stages but as its secrets emerge, it becomes more dramatic, building to some breathless action scenes. But McConaghy has earned these beats and always keeps the characters and their shifting relationships at the centre, deepening those scenes and making them land with plenty of impact.

INCREDIBLE. This is an absolutely gripping novel. First 5 star read of the year for me. Cannot wait to sell this to everyone who walks into the store. I will be RAVING about this book from the mountain tops to whoever will listen. Unforgettable, atmospheric read.

Dominic Salt and his three children Raff, Fen and Orly are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island in between Tasmania and Antarctica. Here the world’s biggest seed bank is stored in a bunker and due to global warming the sea levels are rising, the Salts are packing the rarest and most important ones, before the ship arrives to transport them all to safety.

Dominic hasn’t gotten over the loss of his wife, the solution was to move to Shearwater, once it was busy research station and now it’s just the four of them left and soon it will be deserted and taken by the sea. After a terrible storm, a woman washes up on the rocky shore and Fen rescues her, they wonder why Rowan on a boat in such a remote area and are suspicious of her at first and she integrates herself into the family.

Rowan isn't telling the whole truth about why she sailed to Shearwater, her husband Frank Jones was the senior botanist and he sent her a couple of odd emails and she hasn’t heard from his since. Rowan discovers the radios and power supply have been damaged and they have no way of communicating with the outside world, oddly Fen is staying on the beach with the penguins and not with her family and Dominic is keeping secrets and he’s not the only one.

As their time at Shearwater ticks over, all the characters have to 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, both Dominic and Rowan have experienced loss and create a new life together.

I received a copy of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy from NetGalley and Penguin Random House Australia in exchange for an unbiased review. I now understand why there’s been so much hype about this book, the narrative is full of twists and turns, and set in a remote and harsh place, and where whales, birds and penguins come to mate, have their babies and raise them and the Salts worry about what will happen to the animals and the diverse ecosystem of the rugged island once they leave.

A psychological thriller, one that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next, and full of complex characters, family dynamics, secrets, mystery, missing people, empty buildings, creepy ghost stories and acts of sabotage. Please make sure you read the author’s notes at the end, she mentions a famous explorer and as a child my eighty eight year old mother-law knew him well and five stars from me.

Wild Dark Shore is an atmospheric and poetic tale; with the perfect blend of mystery, secrets, heartbreak and love. While half the story focuses on the natural world and the unbelievable achievements it preforms daily; The other part focuses on the complex relationships that we have with family and those around us.

Despite the intriguing yet slow beginning, this story will hook you in without your knowledge. Strongly recommended having a box of tissues next to you as you read this unforgettable and powerful story.

Charlotte McConaghy has a way with words that flow off the page and will imprint into your consciousness long after you have finished the book. The historical details she researched and blended with the story were powerful and showcases some of Australia’s unique natural wonders and the impacts of bushfires on living things too.

I highly recommend everyone to read this when it comes out March 2024. This definitely will be my favourite book of the year!

Thank you to Netgallery and Penguin Random House Australia for this amazing ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Truly a devastating and haunting experience of a novel. It explores what it means to be human, how us as a species has impacted an entire planet and the resilience of nature in all its forms. It weaves beautifully in and out of family, tragedy and compassion without a hitch. The final 15% of this book had me gripping my chair!

There were so many topics touched on within this book, it made it very easy for there always to be something to think about. I especially appreciated the notion of how women are seen by society. It is very true when we say we don't want children, the looks we receive are bewildering.

I can definitely see this book being one that sticks with me for a long time. I can also see this one being a reference to others. I highly recommend this book, it has important discussions laid within the beautiful writing that should be explored.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After finishing the last page, I was completely spent after wiping the tears from my eyes and experiencing all the feels.

This book got to me. It got under my skin and into my psyche.

Charlotte McConaghy you are an exceptional writer!!

I don’t know the last time I had such a physical and emotional response to a book!!!

I went in blind and I almost think that is the best way to read this.

It’s beautiful.
It’s breathtaking.
It’s heartbreakingly good.

The Salt family live on an island 1000s of kilometres between Tasmania and Antartica.

No review can give it justice, so I’m not going to summarise it. Just read it.

I know it’s only March but I’m calling it - this could be the book of the year for me. It’s going to take something fairly spectacular to change my opinion.

It needs to win all the awards. 🏆🥇🎖️

Thank you @charlottemcconaghy @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for a copy in exchange for a review.

Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore is a masterful blend of suspense, emotion, and environmental reflection. This novel is set against the haunting backdrop of Shearwater Island—a remote landmass nestled between Australia and Antarctica. The narrative intricately weaves themes of survival, grief, and the profound bond between humanity and nature, delivering a story that resonates deeply with readers.

The plot unfolds with the mysterious arrival of Rowan, a woman found injured and washed ashore on Shearwater Island. The island's caretakers - Dominic and his three children take her in, unaware that her presence will unearth buried secrets and challenge their isolated existence.

McConaghy's writing is both lyrical and evocative and she paints vivid images of the island's rugged beauty and the escalating tension as nature's fury approaches (timely for me now as Cycone Alfred is approaching!). The character development is profound, with each member of the Salt family and Rowan portrayed with depth and authenticity. Their individual struggles and collective resilience form the emotional core of the novel, making their journey both compelling and relatable.

This would not be a book I would necessarily pick up from the bookstore, but I am so glad I did read it. It is worth more than 5 stars!

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

A slow-burn read that was confusing in parts. I had many questions, and it took me a while to connect all the dots. I felt like the pace picked up when they were trying to save the seeds, mother and child. I enjoyed this change of pace. I loved the backstories in the flashbacks especially learning about Rowan's construction skills. All the characters were quite complicated. I enjoyed how the author showed the character's true colours e.g. getting angry and smashing things. The ending was unfortunate and caught me off guard.

I received an ARC copy and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Family and intruder drama at the ends of the world, in more senses than one. McConaghy is dedicated to making the character dynamics a series of peaks and troughs and can never quite find the cohesion necessary to sell Rowan and the Salts together, but when Wild Dark Shore hits, it hits well: a fascinating location, a hanging sense of dread and an endless cascade of events to the finish add up to an imperfect but arresting novel.

Charlotte McConaghy’s Migrations (2020) and Once There Were Wolves (2021) were outstanding – literary, thrilling and impactful. So this long-awaited new novel Wild Dark Shore, another near-future climate dystopia, was always going to be a must-read.

It took me a moment to get my bearings with this highly intimate, swiftly alternating, multi-character perspective narrative. The atmosphere within the character ensemble is thick with secrets (and much simply unsaid) from the word-go. Layering upon that her evocative depiction of the hostile climate, rugged environment and isolated location, McConaghy has developed a slow-burning, foreboding menace.

Her exploration of the highly nuanced, fragile line between nature’s striking beauty and ferocity, made for captivating reading. Immensely compelling also was the concentric layers of turmoil explored within Wild Dark Shore — from the individual characters’ inner struggles with grief and trauma, the tensions and suspicion within a group reliant on each other for daily survival, through to the practical and existential impacts of the global climate crisis.
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The creeping tension and suspense accumulates as the mystery’s different threads unspool.

But for me, Wild Dark Shore’s most striking feature is the extent to which McConaghy plumbs the depth of familial love. Which particular aspects trigger readers’ emotions, and tear ducts, will depend on personal experiences. I was certainly aware of holding my breath and/or being moist-eyed multiple times. I found myself so impacted by this novel’s conclusion that I had to put it aside for several days before penning this review.

Wild Dark Shore is, once again, intensely thought-provoking and gut-punch moving writing from the supremely talented Charlotte McConaghy.

Wow, just wow! I'm a Charlotte McConaghy fan, having enjoyed her two previous titles but she has really raised the bar with this one. Suspenseful, gripping and imbued with a sense of dread, it also teaches so much about love and human connection, to other humans and our amazing natural world. The suspense built and built to a total cliffhanger. I enjoyed every breathtaking moment.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for an E ARC of a fantastic book.

I love love love Charlotte McConaghy! Wild Dark Shore was everything I hoped it would be. Rich, full of love for the wild environment, complex, deeply human characters and an ending that left me with tears pricking my eyes.

Set on an island not far from Antarctica we meet Dominic Salt and his three children who are caretakers of the island which includes one of the world's last seed banks. The family have lived there for 9 years after the death of Dominic's wife. Their world is rocked when a woman washes up on the shore. Mysteries are uncovered, relationships are formed, histories are unpacked.

This book was so compelling. I read it via an e-book and you can bet I'm buying a hard copy as soon as I can. I just loved it so. Charlotte McConaghy has such a gift for writing the natural world. This is as beautiful as her debut Migrations. The environment is central to her work and the changing climate is reflected in her novels.

All I can do is gush right now. If you are a McConaghy fan you will love this. If you are new to her work please give this one a go and fall in love as I have with her exquisite writing. But make sure you read her first two books as well!

4.5⭐️

Charlotte McConaghy delivers another beautifully written and deeply moving book. A story about the internal and external struggles experienced and the fight for survival, with nature as a central theme. Wild Dark Shore is a beautiful and bleak, breathtaking and heartbreaking, hopeful, gripping and haunting story of a family who are shattered by grief and weariness, who are simultaneously falling apart and fighting for survival. And ultimately they’re running out of time… As their profoundly remote yet bursting with life island home slowly surrenders itself into the sea they have to decide what to save, knowing they can only save some, not all. They will be haunted by their pasts and haunted by their uncertain futures…

Their home for many years has been the remote research island, Shearwater Island, where researchers study the wildlife, the weather, the tides. It’s a bleak and hostile place, but also a place of beauty and tenderness, with a hidden abundance of animals. They’re used to surviving in a remote place but they need to leave. The island has become too hazardous - weather events are getting worse and sea levels rising at alarms speed. In two months time they must leave alongside the seed vault which needs to be preserved and relocated elsewhere. Staying is perilous, but thinking about leaving nearly kills them. And then a stranger washes up on their shores. When a ferocious storm delivers her to them they know they don’t get to choose who and what’s worth saving, knowing they can only save some, not all, and knowing that they’ll just have to try to save her. But who is she, why did she come, and what is she doing here?

Charlotte McConaghy's third novel 'Wild Dark Shore' is so many things. It is dark. It is secretive. It is situational. It is character driven. It is so so good! Set on the seed vault island of Shearwater, near Antarctica, the sole family on the island, find a woman washed up on the shore. The family are in the final stages of relocating from the island to the mainland, due to the closure of the vault. While their grief, connects them to the woman, the secrets they hold keeps them apart. The themes of isolation, grief, family dynamics and of climate change keeps you wanting to read more.

I have never read a Charlotte McConaghy novel, but after reading 'Wild Dark Shore' I will be seeking them all out! I was hooked straight away! Is it too early to say it is my favourite book of 2025?

Wild Dark Shore is a beautifully written book set on an inhospitable island between Tasmania and Antarctica.

It is home to the Salt family, father Dominic and his children Raff, Fen and Orly. The island is also seasonally inhabited by researchers and the location of a globally important seed vault.

The violent history of the island from whaling and seal hunting has left it with a haunted vibe that is palpable at times.

When a woman washes up on shore one day it raises many questions as the small vessel that she was on did not find this island by chance. Who is she and what does she want?

The stories of all the characters and the convergence of them was frantic and disturbing at times. It felt almost gothic. The indication of a world fast heading towards catastrophe was sobering to read.

The incredible setting of a sub Antarctic island and the Salt residence being a lighthouse, albeit not a working one, was amazing as both are settings that I love