Book Review: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

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, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters 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.

TEE'S THOUGHTS

I have never read one of Charlotte McConaghy's books, but they have always sounded beautiful, and her connection with nature has almost seemed something of a spirital thing, so I have been telling my self ...pick up Migration...pick up something she has written. I finally picked up Wild Dark Shore. Now. I can't compare this book with her others, because I have said, I haven't read them, but I will say this, I hit it right on the head on how I felt her writing would be.

As I listened to Wild Dark Shore I was so pleased at how well crafted each of her characters were. Instantly I felt connected, and invested in them . I did not have to wait for the story to develop deep into the book to finally like them. I hate that, I am a very character driven reader.

Ummm, I don't know about you, but I would LOVE to live on an island and be a light house keeper.  I know. In no book or movie has that ever turned out well....But...there is a first for everything? Right? I thought the island was a perfect setting for this book and McConaghy's descriptions are colorful and beautiful.. Great for a mystery. Isolated location, wild rough ocean that surrounds you. You can just see the rough seas pounding against the rocks, and maybe even depositing a body there for you to discover and nurse back to health. Yes, the mystery is a bit of a slow burn , but there is a lot taking place within the family as you wait. I never felt the story dragged.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance listen from MacMillan Audio, and it was excellent, with a full cast of narrators that brought this entire story to life. 

If you, like me, have heard the constant praise of McConaghy's previous works, and wonder if you should believe the hype...you can. This one did not disappoint.