Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy centres on a father and his three children, caretakers of a small island called Shearwater, north of Antarctica, home to the world's largest depository of seeds. They are the only human inhabitants — the previous researchers have left — and as sea levels rise, they know they will have to leave too. Before that happens, during a storm, a woman named Rowan washes up on the shore. But is she telling the truth about why she is there?

Migrations

I previously read and enjoyed Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy, so I was eager to pick this up. That book was set in the not-too-distant future, in a world where many species of animals have become extinct. It tapped into the all-too-real fear of climate change, with a relatable, emotionally damaged lead character. It was a pretty devastating read.

There are lots of parallels with Wild Dark Shore. The threat of climate change is to the fore, and all of the characters we hear from have been emotionally damaged in some way. I felt the character of Rowan was similar to that of Franny from the previous book — driven, haunted, and searching for something she can't quite name.

Characters

I really liked Rowan. We see her character grow, and she reacts genuinely to the events around her and I really wanted her to find happiness. The father, Dom, is also flawed and struggling with grief, though I found it hard to warm to him.

Each of the three children has their own distinct relationship with the natural world around them — one that feels entirely believable given the island setting. It deepens the book's central themes, and makes the inevitability of leaving all the more painful. I

It's a stunning setting, and one of my favourite scenes was the one with the whales — so vivid and almost awe-inspiring that I felt I was in the boat with them. It is, of course, a bleak setting too, and the isolation really comes across.

In terms of genre, it's not easy to pigeonhole, but I was fine with that. Climate fiction, literary thriller — definitely atmospheric, and the mystery element definitely pulled me along, and the alternating characters points of view worked well.

Climate Crisis

It feels like it's set in the not-too-distant future, which gives it an added urgency, as we can see the signs of climate crisis on a daily basis. It’s close enough that it doesn’t feel like science fiction. We can see a lot of this happening around us already.

The island of Shearwater is already disappearing — the family knows they are living on borrowed time, and the seed depository itself is a kind of admission of defeat, an acknowledgement that the natural world as we know it needs to be archived before it's lost. This is similar to ‘Migrations’ - in that book it was a species that was disappearing - in ‘Wild Dark Shore’ it feels like it’s the world itself that’s going.

I'll say straight out that some of the later developments didn't work that well for me. It didn't spoil my overall enjoyment and I enjoyed the character development and the setting is very immersive. McConaghy is such a vivid writer, and does a fine job building tension.

Summary

Wild Dark Shore is a book that lingers. Flawed in places, yes — one of the subplots just didn’t work for me, just a minor flaw really — but McConaghy's ability to conjure place, and to make you care deeply about characters in an almost impossible situation, more than compensates. Recommended, especially if you loved Migrations.

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