Wild Dark Shore: A Novel

by Charlotte McConaghy

Overview

An ENTHRALLING new novel from the NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves

"A WILDLY TALENTED writer." ―Emily St. John Mandel

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must 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 to create something new, together.

A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250827951
Publisher:	Flatiron Books
Publication date:	03/04/2025
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	42,003
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Charlotte McConaghy is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Wild Dark Shore, Once There Were Wolves, and Migrations, which are being translated into more than twenty languages. She is based in Sydney, Australia.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Wild Dark Shore

“At once a gripping mystery, an exquisitely written ode to the natural world, and a taut, psychological thriller, Wild Dark Shore is a triumph. Charlotte McConaghy is masterful in her ability to show the intricate connections between place and the human heart, and Wild Dark Shore shows her at the height of her powers. Breathtaking.”

—Hannah Kent, international bestselling author of Burial Rites

Praise for Once There Were Wolves

"Blazing . . . Visceral . . . As McConaghy shows in this stunning book, the limits of language lead us to the limits of empathy."

―Los Angeles Times

"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)

"Suspenseful and poignant . . . [Inti’s] story unfolds as a meditation on the social and scientific consequences of influencing ecosystems, while reminding us that humans and animals alike can break our hearts."

―Scientific American

"Lyrical, captivating, thought-provoking and thrilling, this immersive read will capture your attention from the first page."

―Good Morning America

"Bold . . . A heartfelt and earnest novel."

―The New York Times Book Review

"[McConaghy] brings the reader into a world where humans have beaten the world into submission and out of balance, and mixes literary eco-fiction with elements of mystery and thriller novels."

―The Seattle Times

"Gripping and often very moving . . . Despite the darkness and pain at the heart of McConaghy’s novel, it is not a bleak book. Instead, it bears within it an argument about the possibility of change. Recognizing the presence of other ways of being, of other minds and presences enlarges us, affording us a glimpse of the unknowable."

―The Sydney Morning Herald

"Far more than an old wolves' tale. Instead, it illustrates what it’s like to be an outsider―from both a human and animal perspective―and the level of healing and acceptance it takes from within to be accepted and to accept yourself."

―Electric Literature

"The Australian author made waves with last summer's Migrations, a meditation on climate change and loneliness, and returns with a new story set in the Scottish Highlands, where two twin sisters join a team attempting to reintroduce a pack of wolves to their natural surroundings."

―Entertainment Weekly

"Spellbinding . . . Charlotte McConaghy has once again created a world where we must balance trust and fear, humanity and nature."

―Washington Independent Review of Books

"From the author of 2020's gorgeous Migrations comes a similarly earth-shattering tale of humanity's influence on the natural world."

―Thrillist

"Urges us to take a lesson from the wolves, and learn to lean on one another."

―BookRiot

"A lyrical novel with a wild heart."

―PopSugar

"A moving, moody story by the author of the 2020 novel Migrations."

―AARP

"This poetic and atmospheric novel is a mystery, a celebration of wolves, and a tribute to those who work to rewild our landscapes."

―EcoLit Books

"McConaghy excels at conveying the sensuous experience of nature and the emotions it provokes: wonder at its majesty, sorrow at its destruction. Unflinching in its view of the harm humans inflict on the environment and on each other―and insisting on the interconnectedness of the two―Once There Were Wolves delivers a powerful call for hope in the face of catastrophe."

―Shelf Awareness

"Intense, emotional and rich with beautifully rendered prose, McConaghy's novel is a powerful meditation on humanity, nature and the often frightening animalistic impulses lurking within us all . . . Another triumph for a rising fiction star, offering an intensely realized world for readers to get lost in."

―BookPage (starred review)

"Vividly realized . . . Gorgeously rendered . . . A story full of subtle surprises . . . This is a stunner."

―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Poetic . . . A lovely, gripping tale about a world that could be our own."

―Kirkus (starred review)

"McConaghy infuses Inti's adventures with ravishing descriptions of the landscape and the 'infinite mysteries of wolves' . . . McConaghy's richly plotted tale of suspense and psychological insight poses provocative questions about predators and humanity's impact on Earth."

―Booklist

"One of those very rare, special novels that changes you as you read, which you do as slowly as you can because you want to savor it, except the pages keep turning furiously because the story is so thrilling and so powerful, with some of the best characters I have ever read. Charlotte McConaghy has cemented herself as a sure-thing, must-read writer for me."

―Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is

"So damn good. A page-turner that makes you think and has a huge emotional impact."

―Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times bestselling author of Annihilation (via Twitter)

Praise for Migrations

"True and affecting, elegiac and imminent . . . [Filled] with suspense and surprises, parceled out so tantalizingly that it took disciplined willpower to keep from skipping down each page to see what happens."

―The Washington Post

"Visceral and haunting . . . This novel's prose soars with its transporting descriptions . . . Migrations is a nervy and well-crafted novel, one that lingers long after its voyage is over."

―The New York Times Book Review

"Powerful . . . Vibrant…Unique . . . The novelistic equivalent of an energizing cold plunge."

―LA Times

"Suspenseful, atmospheric . . . As much a mystery as an odyssey."

―Vogue

"Thrilling . . . A detailed portrait of a woman on the cusp of collapse, consumed with a world that is every bit as broken as she is."

―TIME

"Gripping . . . By merging cli-fi and nature writing, the novel powerfully demonstrates the spiritual and emotional costs of environmental destruction."

―The Economist

"A good nautical adventure . . . Migrations moves at a fast, exciting clip, motored as much by love for 'creatures that aren’t human' as by outrage at their destruction."

―The Wall Street Journal

"[A] tantalizingly beautiful epic."

―Elle

"You can practically hear the glaciers cracking to pieces and the shrill yelps of the circling terns."

―Vulture

"At a time when it feels like we're at the end of the world, this novel about a different kind of end of the world serves as both catharsis and escape."

―Harper's Bazaar

"An ode to our disappearing natural world."

―Newsweek

"This page-turner is captivating, enlightening and surprisingly full of hope."

―CNN.com

"Gorgeous . . . A personal reckoning that cuts right to the heart. This beautiful novel is an ode―if not an elegy―to an endangered planet and the people and places we love."

―Literary Hub

"Migrations is a gripping tale that ultimately celebrates the beauty and resilience of the creatures―human and animal―that endure."

―Sierra Magazine

"Migrations is as beautiful and as wrenching as anything I've ever read. This is an extraordinary novel by a wildly talented writer."

―Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Glass Hotel and Station Eleven

"This novel is enchanting, but not in some safe, fairy-tale sense. Charlotte McConaghy has harnessed the rough magic that sears our souls. I recommend Migrations with my whole heart."

―Geraldine Brooks, author of The Secret Chord and March

From the Publisher