Wild Dark Shore: a book by Charlotte McConaghy
Haunting, gripping and devastating.
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy packs a climate catastrophe punch to the gut.
This is exactly the kind of book I’ve been waiting to read, ever since writing my very own thesis on ‘coastal climate change adaptation in Australia’ as a University student completing an Honours Degree in Environmental Policy and Management (many years ago now).
The novel is fictitious, yes, but it’s an absolutely brutal and unflinching story of a world (not at all dissimilar to our own) ravaged by climate change-induced wild fires, environmental destruction and sea level rise… and how the destruction of our once precious Earth will be the downfall of us all.
Oof, right?
Yeah.
It’s a heart string puller, twisting pit in your stomach kinda of book, this one. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Despite the ‘oof disclaimer’, and my warning to only read this book if you’re emotionally ready to feel all the feels, I’d 100% recommend this as the kind of book everyone should read at least once in their lifetime.
Wild Dark Shore follows the story of Rowan, a mysterious woman who washes ashore the small island of Shearwater, after a deadly storm. The island is home to the world’s largest seed vault and isolated from the rest of the climate-ravaged Earth.
Rowan is found by the Salt family (a father and his 3 children), who live and work as the only remaining caretakers on the sinking island. Shearwater was once full of researchers and scientists but all have abandoned the doomed island which is crumbling into the rising sea. The Salt family are the final inhabitants and have been tasked with packing up and organising the remaining vital seeds left on Earth.
After the worst storm the island has ever seen, Rowan is badly hurt and the family nurses her back to strength. Her days are spent regaining her health and making herself useful with odd jobs on the harsh and beautiful wilderness that is the eerie abandoned research facility and seed vault on the island.
Spending months of isolated time with Dominic Salt and his three children, Rowan starts to feel a strange sense of belonging to this strange family. But no-one on this island (Rowan included) has been telling the truth and Dominic Salt and his children are drawn into uncovering why Rowan really washed up ashore that fateful day.
A sabotaged radio.
Freshly dug graves.
A rising sea threatening to swallow them all.
Rowan isn’t the only one with secrets on this island…
It’s a story of twists and turns and the impossible choices we are forced to make to protect the people we love… even as the world as we once knew it disappears.
Wild Dark Shore is moody and atmospheric, unsettling and deeply moving. This book is a whirlwind warning and cautionary tale for us humans who are at the precipice of our very own (very real) climate change disaster.
Yes, this book is a tale of mystery, romance and twists that will leave you breathless, but it’s also a wake up call to anyone who reads it - we absolutely must listen to leading climate change researchers and scientists, and the frontline accounts of small island communities already devastated by rising sea levels… to better protect our precious Earth now and for future generations.
So there it is, my plea for you to read this gorgeous book. It will stay with you, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t say it’s an easy read, I certainly felt more than a little uncomfortable and uneasy at point, but it’s definitely worth it. It will stay with you, long after you turn the last page.
If you need any more convincing, here’s a little ‘book moodboard’ I made of Wild Dark Shore which captures the vibes of this book.
What an eerie coastal, breathtakingly beautiful story of human perseverance, sacrifice and hope.
Moodboard of ‘Wild Dark Shore’ book
