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A Novel
by Charlotte McConaghy
Book Reviewed by:Charlotte McConaghy's novel Wild Dark Shore is set on fictional Shearwater Island, located halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica. The frigid, wind-swept land is home to thousands of sea mammals and endangered birds, as well as a small research base, a lighthouse, and the world's largest seed bank (see Beyond the Book). Water levels are rising due to global warming, however, and soon the island will disappear beneath the waves. The researchers have evacuated, leaving the caretakers, Dominic Salt and his three children, to pack up the seeds for transport before they, too, will be displaced from the land that has been their home for the past eight years. Just weeks before their departure, they're hit by a massive storm, but as the family flees inland they see a body in the waves. The middle child, 17-year-old Fen, risks her life to pull the still-breathing woman to shore. As the plot unfolds, the mystery behind this woman's presence only deepens, and it becomes apparent that Dom and his children are hiding secrets of their own.
In many ways the book's atmosphere reminds me of Agatha Christie novels like And Then There Were None or Evil Under the Sun. Like Christie, the author depicts the bleak, isolated landscape so realistically that the island itself becomes a character. Shearwater is cold, grey, and stormy, making this a story one wants to read by a cozy fire. Everything about the area, from the abandoned research station to the subzero seed bank, also feels haunted—an impression aided by the fact that Dominic talks to his long-dead wife, and his youngest, nine-year-old Orly, hears the ghosts of the animals slaughtered centuries ago by seal hunters.
As the mystery unfolds, Dominic and the woman, whose name is Rowan, become increasingly paranoid and suspicious of each other, which ramps up the tension. Each can sense that the other is lying, but beneath the distrust is a growing attraction. Every time trust begins to form, however, a new clue is revealed that throws the other person's veracity into question (for example, Dominic wonders why, if Rowan knows nothing about the island as she claims, she possesses a picture of the facility's lead botanist). Readers gradually learn who is lying to whom, but the reasons for their deception are revealed in plot twists most won't see coming.
More than a slow-burn thriller, the novel has a lot to say about grief, in particular how dwelling on one's losses can damage relationships with those we care about. It's heartbreaking, for example, to see how Dominic fails to connect to his children in part because he can't move beyond the death of his wife. All the characters have experienced profound bereavement of one type or another, and the journey each takes toward healing is the beating heart of the narrative.
McConaghy also writes extensively about the greater ecological calamity that will result from the current climate crisis, highlighting the further losses humanity will endure should the damage go unchecked. In one instance Orly mentions that their island is the only breeding ground for royal penguins, and once it's submerged this species likely won't survive. This fact holds true for the real-life Macquarie Island on which Shearwater is based. While the danger it faces isn't as imminent as that of Shearwater, Macquarie is experiencing rising sea levels of 0.3mm per year, and if nothing changes the island will eventually disappear—along with the royal penguins.
My only criticism of the novel concerns its end. A late plot twist kicks the pacing into high gear, which seems out of step with the spooky, elegiac quality of the rest of the book. It feels rushed, and although it's a high-octane, can't-turn-the-pages-fast-enough finish, it's not explained well enough to be completely satisfying. Although this seems like a fairly major complaint, it didn't substantially diminish my overall enjoyment of the book.
Wild Dark Shore is, in short, an unforgettable novel and one I highly recommend. Those interested in environmental fiction will want to put this one on their list, and readers who prefer well-crafted, slowly unfolding mysteries will also find much to enjoy here.
This review
first ran in the June 18, 2025
issue of BookBrowse Recommends.
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