“Wild Dark Shore” is a novel set on a subantarctic island written by New York Times bestselling author, Charlotte McConaghy. The story follows the Salt family caretaking a seed vault on the remote island, and a woman, Rowan Jones, who nearly drowns after making a boat trip from Australia to the island in search of her husband, Hank.

As the mysterious circumstances of Hank’s time working with a team of scientists on the island slowly are revealed, readers are drawn into the lives of the unique and compelling characters and immersed in the wild beauty and unpredictability of the subantarctic island.

Why are Dominic and his three children keeping secrets from Rowan about the whereabouts of her husband? What does McConaghy’s story reveal about climate change and the harm we inflict on animal populations, and the way most humans view these circumstances? Can one woman, broken in many ways herself, find a way to unify a family that is falling apart?

With the exception of small plot holes and a few underdeveloped minor characters, the novel is well-written. McConaghy explores first-person and third-person perspectives from multiple characters, all while providing clear narrative and prose. Whether you like literary fiction, environmental stories, thrillers or tragic romance, you’ll likely find “Wild Dark Shore” a worthwhile read.

‘Wild Dark Shore’ Summary: Rowan’s Mysterious Arrival on Island

Dominic Salt and his three children are the only apparent inhabitants of Shearwater Island. Scientists supporting the largest seed bank project in the world leave due to rising sea levels that threaten to swallow the subantarctic island. A ship is slated to return for the Salt family in six weeks.

A mysterious boat sinks just offshore. Dominic’s daughter, Fen, rescues lone survivor Rowan, who embarked on the dangerous voyage, seeking her husband, Hank, a researcher working on the island. She decided to make the boat trip from Australia after receiving frantic email messages indicating he might be in danger.

When Dominic says Hank left with the other scientists, Rowan suspects he is lying and that he and his children may have killed him.

“Wild Dark Shore” has topped many bestseller lists including USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.

Although this detail isn’t often mentioned in promotional text, the book has an overall dark and haunting tone, with voices of dead humans and wild animals heard by some of the characters.

Books Like ‘Wild Dark Shore’

The books listed below explore environmental themes and/or illuminate the beauty of nature.

• “The Shell Collector” by Hugh Howey: In a world inundated by rising sea levels and other devastating events due to climate change, a journalist interviews an oil company executive largely responsible for the devastation.
• “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens juxtaposes beautiful nature descriptions of the North Carolina coast with a murder mystery.
• “A Year with the Seals” by Alix Morris explores relationships and conflicts between humans and seals.
• “Once There Were Wolves” is another Charlotte McConaghy novel. It explores wolves introduced into the remote Scottish Highlands and has a suspense storyline.

Audience and Genre: Suspenseful Nature Writing With Elements That Span Many Categories

“Wild Dark Shore” will speak most to readers who feel connected to nature and concerned about climate change and its effect on the natural world. Readers who connect to poignant, poetic writing will also enjoy this novel. The book title embraces the wild unpredictability of the subantarctic island, dark themes and ocean environment.

McConaghy’s book is suspenseful and keeps readers hanging on the edge of a cliff from beginning to end. It’s much more fast-paced than the average nature read. The author sets a dark and haunting tone with her writing. Ghosts of humans and animals who died horrifying deaths haunt the island.

“Wild Dark Shore” could fall into multiple genres including nature writing, dystopian, thriller, paranormal and even romance, although readers craving a happily-ever-after ending (spoiler alert) will be disappointed.

Readers may need to suspend reality to become fully immersed in this story. Some aspects of the book seemed far-fetched. I will discuss that element more in later sections.

Perspective: Multiple First- and Third-Person Points of View

Dominic, Rowan and Orly’s characters were written from a first-person point of view. Raff, Fenn, and Alex were written in third person. These shifts in point-of-view worked, except for Alex’s short section, which felt too jarring and shallow compared to the complex development of the other characters. Alex’s character was apparently inserted to enable readers (spoiler alert) to understand why he killed himself, but other devices may have worked better.

Point-of-view changes were easy to follow because the chapter headings named the person having the experience. The point-of-view changes enabled the reader to understand the central characters better and created suspense. The author slowly drops in hints as to how the mysterious circumstances unfolded.

Three Cs: Compelling, Clear, Concise

Editorial Note: We believe these three factors are important for evaluating general writing quality across every aspect of the book. Before you get into further analysis, here’s a quick breakdown to clarify how we’re using these words:

• Compelling: Does the author consistently write in a way that would make most readers emotionally invested in the book’s content?
• Clear: Are most sentences and parts of the book easy enough to read and understand?
• Concise: Are there sections or many sentences that could be cut? Does the book have pacing problems?

Compelling: Readers Likely to Connect to Rowan the Most

Readers will likely connect to Rowan’s character. She loves wild animals and the outdoors, has a caring, compassionate nature, is tough and resilient, and experiences emotional conflict over past events and her future. She’s acutely observant of others and her surroundings.

Below are Rowan’s first impressions of Fen. “We have met before but that feels like part of the fever dream. I take her in properly, watch the way her body moves, completely at ease on the sand and among the animals, strong and graceful in the full wet suit that looks not unlike the sleek dark fur of the seals. Her hair is long and sun-bleached blond, tangled and salty almost to the point of dreadlocks. Her skin is very tanned and freckled and she seems like a wild animal who has stepped free of a life under water.”

Rowan soon recognizes that Dominic hasn’t moved past the death of his wife. He is unable to connect with them in a meaningful way, and his children feel lost and alienated. Each central character is broken on one level or another due to traumatic events from the past. Rowan feels compelled to help mend the family.

As readers become more invested in the lives of the central characters, they will want to know more about the details of their lives, the traumas they’ve suffered, and what they will do to move forward. They will want to know if this critical seed bank will survive or be lost. They may want to know if the kindling romance between Dominic and Rowan will last. There is also the open question as to whether the family will find a way to unify or whether they will continue to remain isolated from each other.

Readers will be drawn into the pain and loss each character has experienced, recognize the suffering that fur seals and other animal populations endured on the island in its violent past, and feel the uncertainty of the future for the central characters on the island and in their changing world.

Clear: Storyline Easy-to-Follow, Some Plot Gaps

“Wild Dark Shore” is a fast-paced, exciting read. McConaghy’s writing is poetic and captivating. The characters are deep and complex.

The book flowed well and was professionally edited. I didn’t catch any typos in the text.

The central plot of the book centered around what happened to Rowan’s husband, Hank. After she arrives on the island, she’s told by Dominic Salt that he has left the island with the other scientists. She’s concerned about his well-being because he had sent email messages indicating that he was in danger. More details of these mysterious circumstances are gradually revealed during the story through the lenses of each of the central characters.

Other plots explored are the flooding threat to the seed vault, the cause of the emotional divide between Fenn and her father, and the developing romance between Dominic and Rowan and the conflict both feel over this.

It felt unbelievable that the island was nearly deserted since a great deal of money and effort must have been invested to create the largest seed vault in the world. It seems like more rather than fewer personnel would have been sent there to retrieve the seeds and that they would have rushed to remove them before they were destroyed.

(Spoiler alert)

I was confused when Orly went to rescue Hank. He opened the door to the hidden room, which seemed to be below ground and then Hank asked him to climb down the ladder and wait (and then locked him in) when it was my understanding that that space was at ground level and would have been up, not down.

Concise: Writing Style Works

Overall, “Wild Dark Shore” is a page turner. It’s a fast-paced read. Scenes from Orly’s point-of-view sometimes included descriptions of different seeds that interested him and their significance. Although these scenes don’t move the story forward, they revealed more about Orly as a character and fit with the plight-of-nature theme.

Character Development: Deep, Unique Characters Experiencing Brokenness

McConaghy developed a cast of intriguing characters in this novel. Each is presented from their own point-of-view, either in first or third person. All of them are broken on one level or another due to past suffering. Since the death of Dominic’s wife, Claire, Dominic’s relationship with his children is disintegrating.

Rowan seemed to be the central character in the book and was easiest to connect with. She experienced deep, relatable emotions, loved humans and animals deeply, and had lived a rather tragic life. Her kindness and sensitivity gradually helped the broken family to heal. Scenes from her point-of-view often brought tears to my eyes.

Each of the central characters — Rowan, Dominic, Orly, Fen and Raff — are deeply connected to nature. Their thoughts and internal dialogue illuminate this theme. They all felt like real people with complex problems and emotions, and I felt invested in what would become of them. I didn’t feel any intrusion of the author in the development of any of these central characters.

Flashback was a common technique used to help readers understand past events in each individual’s life.

Each character experienced personal growth over the course of the novel. Rowan, initially impatient and irritated when Orly follows her everywhere she goes, comes to love him like he’s her own son. She slowly begins to bond with the family, recognizes the divide between them and tries to help them unify. Dominic finally realizes he needs to stop talking to his wife’s ghost, let go of her possessions, and be more present with his family. The children learn to take care of each other while also finding a way to accept Rowan into their circle.

(Spoiler Alert)

As was mentioned in an earlier section, the isolated chapter written from the point-of-view of Alex — a member of the research team who becomes romantically involved with Raff and later dies — didn’t work for me.

Story: A Compelling Read With Some Distracting Plot Issues

Most readers will find “Wild Dark Shore” a compelling read. Readers will want to know what happened to Hank, if the seed bank will survive, if Rowan’s budding relationship with Dominic will last and if the three children will be able to bond with their father again. The suspenseful elements and characters will likely keep readers turning pages.

McConaghy tackled writing “Wild Dark Shore” from multiple points of views very skillfully. It was surprising how well this approach worked. The descriptive way she writes this hostile yet beautiful island adds to the mysterious and dark nature of the developing plot. The way the characters interact with their environment and nature on the island is unique and intriguing.

Plot elements hung me up a few times. If this “largest seed bank in the world” was so critical to feeding humans in the event of a disaster, I would have expected more scientists to arrive to save it instead of everyone packing up and shipping out. Too much time and money would have been invested in this project to blow it off like this.

It also seems like they would have had better communications systems such as satellite phones instead of phones and internet connections that could quickly be destroyed.

(Spoiler alert)

The configuration of the storage room near the seed vault where Hank was kept (spoiler alert) confused me. Orly swam through a tunnel that was supposedly underground and opened a door because he wanted to let Hank out. Rowan went through another tunnel to find him and opened the hatch that seemed to be at ground level. Hank pulled open the door Orly opened and then asked Orly to climb down a ladder. My impression from reading this passage was that this hatch was above the underground room at ground level.

Finally, when Rowan finds Orly and they are trapped down in the room together, Rowan has many heart-wrenching and beautiful thoughts, but it never crossed her mind that Hank is now on the loose and could harm the others. I found that detail odd.

(Spoiler alert) I found Rowan’s death at the end of the book distressing but not a surprise. The dark tone of “Wild Dark Shore” and even the book title foreshadows an uncertain, grim future. On the upside, Rowan helped bring the family together, offering them an opportunity to live more harmoniously together.

Prose Style: Poetic Writing With Effective Nature Metaphors

McConaghy’s prose style is poetic and descriptive. It feels authentic and unique. Each character is sensitive and observant in different ways, and the author skillfully develops each of their voices.

The blend of narrative and dialogue, showing vs. telling worked in “Wild Dark Shore.” Nothing felt out of balance. I assumed from the author’s writing style that McConaghy feels deeply connected to nature and would likely only associate with people who love and care for the earth.

Below are some examples of McConaghy’s writing that show her skill in describing scenes and developing compelling characters.

Rowan recalls the early days of her relationship with Hank and ponders how she may have expected too much from what they had:

“I try to recall in as much detail as I can those first days and weeks and months of discovering that we were both in love with the same place, the same mountains, the same small patch of land — and by extension each other. He could see how to turn the land I’d bought into a home. I would build the house and, improbably, this man from across the world would plant the garden, and together we would create a life.”

Here’s an example of beautiful nature writing from Rowan’s point-of-view:

“As we draw nearer to the fur seals, the sound of them crests. Could there be hundreds of them? The honks and snorts from the adults are coupled with what sounds like the bleat of lambs. In my confusion I look for the source of this and realize there are squidgy shapes in among the adults, sand-covered babies with little ears poking out of their heads, dozens and dozens of them making these tiny lamb cries.”

Fen says after the sealers clubbed all the seals to death; they stuffed penguins alive into barrels to boil all their oils out. What follows are Rowan’s thoughts. “As before, the image is like an intrusion into my mind, I see the men again, climbing out of their little wooden boats and wading through those masses, lifting the little creatures into the barrels and ignoring their screams.” Orly then says, “We see them too.” He knows Rowan is reliving the haunting scene and is telling her that he and Fen reexperience the same horror of those past events often.

Because the characters live intimately with nature, their experiences are often expressed through nature metaphors. Raff recalls when Alex was still alive, when they first kissed. “On the day they first kiss, Raff’s heart does not speed up; instead it seems to slow right down, it beats so hard and so slow that he thinks of the whale heart. Of the humpback, and the enormity of that heart, of its chambers a person can walk through.”

Rowan and Fen both talk about not being seen, about feeling invisible to people who they want to love them.

Fen says to Rowan, “I know Dad loves me. I just don’t know if he can see me.”

Rowan flashes back to a day when she and Hank fight over having children after their land has been consumed by fire. Rowan told him early on in her relationship that she didn’t want to bring children into their dying world. When he says she should do something that he wants for once, she thinks, “In the years we have been together it has become very clear to me that he does not see me at all.”

Orly shares his fear that the seeds won’t be saved a night he crawls into bed with Rowan. And this is her internal dialogue in that scene: “I can understand why he might not, in fact, be alright. Why maybe none of us will be, because we have, all of us humans, decided what to save, and that is ourselves.”

This human selfishness is such a central theme in this book. Even when Hank is instructed to save certain seeds, they are to be the ones that grow plants that humans eat. None are to be saved to support the other species living on the earth. Ironically, when Orly takes over the seed preservation task, he chooses all the unique seeds instead of the ones that will feed humans.

As Rowan drowns at the end of the book, she breathes her last breath of air into Orly’s mouth. She understands the words Dom once said. “It’s just a body. They hold on or they don’t.” And she thinks, “You’re right. It’s nothing to be frightened of. Mine will become the salt of this water. And every time you swim it will be me upon your skin.”

The literary devices most notable in “Wild Dark Shore” were foreshadowing, metaphor and flashbacks.

Foreshadowing of Rowan’s death occurs when, on page 6, Rowan has been pulled from the sea and is clinging to life. Dominic ponders this. “I think, deep in the darkest hours, that even if she survives this night that ocean will have her back one day.”

Flashbacks are often used to give readers more insight into past events experienced by the different characters. These scenes are often heart-wrenching.

In the scene below, Rowan tells Dominic how her family once lived on a boat, and she was left in charge:

“When Mum and Dad went ashore to work, I looked after my sisters and brother. I cooked and bathed them, I brushed their tangled hair, read them stories, got them to sleep. We were wild, everyone one of us, often unclothed because it was easier to dive into the water and swim like fish, then swing on ropes to get back aboard. I held him in my arms most of the time, I swam with his face by my shoulder, his little hands curled against me. I made sure he didn’t fall, but it was wild, I said it was wild, didn’t I?”

“I loved him, and he drowned while I was meant to be watching him.”

Dialogue: Reveals Spoken and Internal Tensions

All the dialogue in “Wild Dark Shore” felt natural and fit the individuals speaking. The dialogue often showed the tension between different characters. And as a reader, I kept wondering what they weren’t saying.

In addition to spoken dialogue, it worked well when some of the characters, especially Rowan, put context into what was happening and what they were feeling through their internal thoughts and impressions.

It is always clear who is speaking since the name of the character whose point-of-view is being portrayed heads each chapter.

Setting: Subantarctic Island Being Swallowed by the Sea

“Wild Dark Shore” takes place on Shearwater Island. This fictitious island is based on Macquarie Island, a 34-kilometer-long subantarctic island located between Tasmania and Antarctica that is home to more than four million seals, penguins and seabirds. The harshness and beauty of the island felt very real. The author brings readers on the scene with her evocative descriptions and gives them a multisensory experience of the place.

The setting plays a crucial role in the story. The battering storms set the stage for the dark events taking place. They also foreshadow bad events to come.

Rhetoric: Threats to Our Planet and Wild Species

McConaghy’s messages to readers about our troubled planet come through naturally in the story. It never felt contrived or forced. She brings readers to an island where global warming is bringing about its destruction. Characters she created are experiencing catastrophic fires, rising seas and an uncertain future. The author also portrays how cruel humans have been to animals, citing the history of seals and whales being indiscriminately slaughtered, with penguins even being stuffed into barrels and burned alive for their oil.

Rowan’s choice not to have children awakens a theme of why women might not want to bring children into this troubled world. If our species is unable to reverse climate change, its accelerating effects could create a miserable existence for future generations. Overpopulation is a cause of climate change. Rowan might not want to be complicit in producing more people during a time when the responsible decision is to shrink our population.

Cultural and Political Significance: Global Warming and Rising Seas

Our planet is threatened by global warming. Islands and shorelines are threatened as sea levels rise. We often treat animals as if they are outside our realm instead of struggling to survive in a world where we prioritize our own needs and rarely think outside that box. We tend to appreciate animals if it is convenient for us. But, if they interfere with our objectives, we want to remove them or pretend their needs aren’t important, that ours matter more.

The suspense aspect of the story and the compelling characters may attract readers who aren’t normally drawn to books highlighting environmental and nature themes.

Critiquing the Critics: Is the Genre Blending a Net Positive?

Below are critic reviews taken from the “Wild Dark Shore” Amazon sales page.

“A stunning amalgam of environmental fiction and a deep exploration of personal relationships . . . An exceptional book that captures the soul and breaks the heart, only to put it back together again.”
―Newsweek (A Best Book of the Year)

“Spellbinding…Captivating…McConaghy keeps the novel moving at a blustery pace, thanks to her deft plotting and shared point of view…To read this exceptionally imagined, thoroughly humane novel feels like following the last people on Earth as they prepare to leave some part of their souls to the most beautiful place they’ll ever know.”
―Washington Post

“Vivid…Moving…Wild Dark Shore abounds with evocative nature writing…We’re shown why a person might withdraw from the messiness of life after tragedy and trauma…The novel also offers its injured characters a path back to connection and community, a risk McConaghy argues must be worth taking, no matter how fraught the future.”
―The New York Times Book Review

“A gripping tale…With a breathtaking setting and characters you’ll love, Wild Dark Shore is a suspenseful and moving must-read.”
―Reader’s Digest

“I fell in love with every, single character.”
―People Magazine

Many Amazon reviewers praised the beautiful descriptions and the depth of the characters. Readers enjoyed the arcs of each of the characters in the story. One Kindle customer called “Wild Dark Shore” an immersion experience because the setting drew her in so completely. Another said in her five-star-review: “I have never loved so many characters at once, and I liked that even though the characters changed overtime they still stayed true to who they were.”

Adjectives and phrases used to describe the writing included “visceral,” “haunting,” “lyrical,” “mysterious,” and “electric with feeling.”

Some reviewers thought that the book should have stuck with environmental themes instead of deviating into mystery and romance. They indicated that some scenes would have been more powerful if the reader weren’t distracted by other plots. I think that having the “thriller” aspect of the book brought in readers who might not normally read a nature read, which may have been the author’s intent. It could get them to begin to care for nature in a way they haven’t before.

Some people called the book far-fetched and didn’t find the romance believable. I agree that there were some plot issues that seemed unbelievable.

Book Aesthetic: A Combination of Artistic and Commercial

The “Wild Dark Shore” cover gives a dark and ominous impression, painted with dark sky and large waves. It accurately portrays the grim and mysterious storyline. The orange letters of the title and author almost appear more painted than printed, making it look less contemporary.

The cover is both artistic and commercial with a painting, the book title, the author’s name and “New York Times bestselling author” on the front cover. Quotes from publications and individuals have been listed on the back cover. All but one of these reviews mention other books authored by McConaghy.

Reviewer’s Personal Opinion: Evocative and Suspenseful

“Wild Dark Shore” was one of my favorite reads so far this year. The wildness of the island intrigued me. The whales, penguins, seals, birds and the spectacular beauty of the place captivated me. The descriptions were so evocative and multisensory, I felt like I had landed on Shearwater Island. Rowan, Fen, Raff and Orly’s characters came across as intriguing and unique. I loved how they were so innately connected to their natural environment.

(Spoiler Alert)

I found Rowan to be the easiest character to relate to. I acutely connected with the losses she had experienced (spoiler alert) with her younger brother drowning, her home and land being destroyed by fire, and her marriage disintegrating. It was beautiful the way she brought healing and connection to a broken family. The unique story arcs of other characters helped me to better understand the family dynamics and the difficulties they were coping with.

Dominic was a tough one for me. He seemed to have no clue how to relate to his children. Even though he clearly loved them, he was too absorbed in his own misery to be much help to them. I wanted him to be stronger, to try harder, to not need Rowan to have to do all the work to bring the family back together again. I also wanted him to be honest with Rowan instead of continuing to deceive her once they became romantically involved. I understand that the author used this technique to maintain the suspense, but this lack of honesty made the romance feel less believable.

I disliked Hank from the get-go. He struck me as a shallow, unhinged and selfish individual, so it didn’t bother me, like it did some readers, to learn he was being held hostage.

I found it difficult to believe that Rowan would be first to notice that the seed storage walls were disintegrating. It seems like noticing problems like this would be top priority for anyone involved with this project. Given that this is supposed to be the largest seed vault in the world, I felt like the powers that be would have had a back-up plan to save them.

I also found it difficult to believe that they wouldn’t have been given satellite phones or other advanced communication systems that couldn’t be so easily destroyed. And I would have expected that rescuers would have arrived sooner than planned if they really lost all their communication abilities instead of waiting the full six weeks to arrive. A couple of other plot issues hung me up as I have previously mentioned.

‘The Shell Collector’ and ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ are two books — both great reads — that I think readers who liked “Wild Dark Shore” might connect to that also have nature themes and suspenseful plots.

Conclusion: Evocative, Fast-Paced Read with Some Plot Issues

Although “Wild Dark Shore” was an evocative, thought-provoking and fast-paced read, the out-of-the-blue chapter from Alex’s point of view and the plot issues I encountered detracted from the overall effectiveness of the story. I would still highly recommend it.

Buying and Rental Options

E-Commerce Text and Audio Purchases

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Apple Books
• Google Play

E-Commerce Audio Only

• Libro.fm
• Audible

Physical Location Purchase and Rental Options

“Wild Dark Shore” is available at most Barnes & Noble locations and independent bookstores. It is also available in most public libraries.

Digital Rental Options

E-book and audio book copies of “Wild Dark Shore” are available for check-out on the Libby app. For the Tucson libraries, the current wait time for both editions is several weeks. Occasionally, the app offers a “skip the line” copy to readers.