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Wild Dark Shore: A Novel Hardcover – March 4, 2025
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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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
“RIVETING.” ―Booklist (starred review)
“[A] TERRIFIC thriller.” ―Kirkus (starred review)
“As lush as it is TAUT WITH TENSION.” ―Library Journal (starred review)
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.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherFlatiron Books
- Publication dateMarch 4, 2025
- Dimensions6.55 x 1 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-101250827957
- ISBN-13978-1250827951
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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From the Publisher



Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for Wild Dark Shore
Instant New York Times Bestseller
Instant Indie Bestseller
Instant USA Today Bestseller
Instant Washington Post Bestseller
Instant Los Angeles Times Bestseller
A Most Anticipated Book (Goodreads, Town & Country, BookPage, Publishers Weekly, Bustle, WNYC, The Nerd Daily, Zibby’s Highlights, Geek Girl Authority)
#1 IndieNext Pick
A Book of the Month Club Selection
A Reader’s Digest Book Club Pick
“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
“Charlotte McConaghy, the author of the fantastic Migrations and Once There Were Wolves, delivers yet another page-turner set in the wilderness, making readers grapple with climate change and what you would do to survive.”
―Town & Country
“A suspenseful, rushing read, full of short chapters, emotional twists, and a landscape it’s all too easy to sink into and live in. Wild Dark Shore is an exceptional book that hands readers a bittersweet helping of sorrow and joy, sounding a clarifying call towards a symbiotic survival that prioritizes our need to do more than simply subsist: to put trust in each other and in the nature that surrounds us.”
―Chicago Review of Books
“Gripping… A thriller promising a unique premise, complex characters, and an atmospheric setting, Wild Dark Shore is a must-read this March.”
―ScreenRant
“Riveting… McConaghy’s descriptions of nature’s glory and terror are galvanic, the psychological struggles wrenching, the suspenseful action spectacularly choreographed. McConaghy has attained new heights of intensity and lacerating ecological conviction in this complexly plotted, tragic, and all-consuming tale of the battle to survive.”
―Booklist (starred review)
“[A] terrific thriller…McConaghy keeps readers guessing…McConaghy writes about both nature and human frailty with eloquent generosity. Readers won’t want to leave behind the imagined world of pain and beauty that McConaghy has conjured.”
―Kirkus (starred review)
“Sub-Antarctic noir meets a love letter to the rapidly disappearing wild world in McConaghy’s latest…As lush as it is taut with tension, this novel is filled with both the joys and ravages of nature.”
―Library Journal (starred review)
“Thought-provoking and passionately told…Wild Dark Shore asks, what will happen when we risk losing our homes and our neighbors? What will we save and what will we let go of? And how can we start again after the sea takes it all?”
―BookPage
“Urgent…McConaghy ratchets up the tension as the characters’ paranoia and mutual suspicion increases and their motives are revealed…McConaghy blends entertainment with a sobering message about conservation and the impacts of geographic isolation.”
―Publishers Weekly
“Remarkable…Raising issues of love and family and sacrifice, Wild Dark Shore is a beautiful examination of hope in the face of certain destruction.”
―Shelf Awareness
“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
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Flatiron Books (March 4, 2025)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250827957
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250827951
- Item Weight : 1.07 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.55 x 1 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Charlotte McConaghy is the author of the international bestseller MIGRATIONS, a TIME Magazine Best Book of the Year and the Amazon Best Fiction Book of the Year for 2020, which is being translated into over twenty-five languages and adapted for film, as well as the New York Times Bestseller ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES. Her forthcoming novel WILD DARK SHORE will be released March 4, 2025. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book's plot engaging, with one review noting how it captures the complexity of love and grief. The writing is well-executed, with one customer highlighting the use of multiple POVs, and customers appreciate the character development and beautiful nature descriptions. Customers describe the book as a compelling read that is hopeful and intelligent, with one review particularly praising the author's portrayal of flora and fauna.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the plot of the book, particularly its twists and turns, with one customer noting how it captures the complexity of love and grief, while another describes it as a beautiful story of a family in pain.
"...I succumbed to its narrative, characters, and messages. Charlotte McConaghy can write...." Read more
"...account of a family living in a Lighthouse on an island is simply fascinating. The animals, birds and sea animals are so interesting to learn about...." Read more
"...What a ride thru total desolation.. but also the beauty of nature.. will you feel like me after this novel?..." Read more
"Transcendent. Magnificent. McConaghy has written a mystery as literary fiction and pulls it off with grace and mastery...." Read more
Customers praise the writing quality of the book, with one noting it is written in multiple points of view.
"...In fact, it's very rare. However, this beautifully written book really got into me, I mean INTO ME...." Read more
"...Also just FYI, the book is written in multiple POVs and I do like that the life goes on with the other characters even tho the main character deals..." Read more
"...Her handling of time and place is extraordinary. She writes in the present tense in two timelines, and you are never confused about where or when..." Read more
"...I read a ton. The writing is wonderful, as is the setting, the character development, the plot." Read more
Customers find the book to be a compelling read.
"...was little vegetation left was equally fascinating to learn about..a great read !" Read more
"Transcendent. Magnificent. McConaghy has written a mystery as literary fiction and pulls it off with grace and mastery...." Read more
"This has to be one of my favorite all time books! I read a ton. The writing is wonderful, as is the setting, the character development, the plot." Read more
"...And what about the family? Seemingly rather perfect but also spooky with each character no matter the age giving off slightly sinister and..." Read more
Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one mentioning how the author unfolds the stories and characters.
"...The relationships between the characters are beautifully depicted with immediacy and insight...." Read more
"...I liked all of the main characters.. and I can relate to their decisions and actions...." Read more
"...The writing is wonderful, as is the setting, the character development, the plot." Read more
"...I loved the characters too! I felt like they were part of my life. There are sad and depressing moments for sure and I cried a few times...." Read more
Customers find the book beautiful, with one review specifically praising how it captures nature's raw beauty and fury.
"...What a ride thru total desolation.. but also the beauty of nature.. will you feel like me after this novel?..." Read more
"...McConaghy has a gift for painting nature’s raw beauty and fury, and that’s what hooked me from the first page." Read more
"...Charlotte’s writing is some of the most beautiful, profound writing I’ve ever read...." Read more
"Lyrically written, starkly beautiful. This is the second book by this author that has moved me beyond words...." Read more
Customers find the book hopeful.
"...Ms. McConaghy captures the love, agony, hope, fear and resiliency of Rowan and the Salt family as they face environmental and personal challenges...." Read more
"...This book made me think and while the premise seemed dire, it is wildly hopeful. I loved this book." Read more
"...so long for this third book and it is more beautiful and tragic and hopeful than I could have asked for. Life after life...." Read more
"...something I rarely do..such a twisty, unexpected story of bravery, hope, love and loss." Read more
Customers appreciate the intelligence of the book, with one noting that they can relate to the characters' decisions and actions.
"...between the characters are beautifully depicted with immediacy and insight. I know this novel will be one of my top ten of the year." Read more
"...I liked all of the main characters.. and I can relate to their decisions and actions...." Read more
"...They are all amazing. Literary, intelligent, beautiful books ! I learn something in each book . Do not miss this one!" Read more
Customers appreciate the book's educational content, with one customer highlighting the interesting information about sea animals and another noting the amazing vignettes about flora and fauna.
"...The animals, birds and sea animals are so interesting to learn about...." Read more
"...There are so many facts and real information about plants, wildlife and global warming in this story. I loved the characters too!..." Read more
"...in pain brought together at the end of the world with amazing vignettes about flora and fauna." Read more
Reviews with images

Gorgeous, Captivating Prose
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2025It's not often that I cry while reading a novel. In fact, it's very rare. However, this beautifully written book really got into me, I mean INTO ME. I succumbed to its narrative, characters, and messages. Charlotte McConaghy can write. I've read all three of her novels and they're all wonderful.
Wild Dark Shore is about several things but the most important messages are the ones about the dangers and impending doom of climate change, and the importance of love.
The Salt family live on a very remote island named Shearwater. Its closest land mass is Antarctica. Dominic is the widowed dad, and Fen, Raff, and Orly are his children. One day, out of nowhere, a woman named Rowan washes ashore. She and Dominic are suspicious of one another and keep an emotional distance between them. The children are all wonderful in their own way. Fen is at one with the ocean; Raff is empathic and plays the violin beautifully; and Orly is a lexicon of world seeds and the seed vault on the island.
Originally, this island was a research station but there do not appear to be any researchers remaining; just Rowan and the Salt family now residing there. There is a mystery about what happened to the researchers, and several hypotheses about their disappearance.
The book reads like the most beautiful poetry. Ms. McConaghy captures the love, agony, hope, fear and resiliency of Rowan and the Salt family as they face environmental and personal challenges. The relationships between the characters are beautifully depicted with immediacy and insight.
I know this novel will be one of my top ten of the year.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2025This fictional account of a family living in a Lighthouse on an island is simply fascinating. The animals, birds and sea animals are so interesting to learn about. The seed vault that the scientists stored seeds to keep civilization able to survive once there was little vegetation left was equally fascinating to learn about..a great read !
- Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2025A beautiful, wonderful book. If you have ever wanted to live on a remote, almost deserted island, this is the book for you. The author describes the wild elements of land and sea and weather perfectly and weaves a captivating story among them. I loved it.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2025Beautifully written literary fiction with twists and pacing that I haven't enjoyed in a long time. Truly unable to put this one down. Reminiscent of Where the Crawdads Sing or works by Kristin Hannah but with something more.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2025Lyrically written, starkly beautiful.
This is the second book by this author that has moved me beyond words. This book captures the complexity of love and grief and loss.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2025I didn’t know I’d enjoy this so much. Charlotte’s writing is some of the most beautiful, profound writing I’ve ever read. As soon I write this I’m gonna go pick up once there were wolves.
“But here is the nature of life. That we must love things with our whole selves, knowing they will die.”
This book tugged on my empathic, boy mama, animal loving heart. The ending broke my heart in all the best ways. I don’t see how it could’ve went any other way.
This little family left alone on an arctic island to sort through seeds from a vault for science, has been through so much. Kids stuck here with their dad. No mom and no outside world. And then *she* washes ashore and then the hurt and grief and healing really begins.
I cried for every character. Well, except for one. You’ll know when you see.
“Do you hear the voices?” “I only hear one.”
🤎🦭🐋🌊
- Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2025This was my book of the month 2025 pick!
The cover intrigued me right away and I picked it up yesterday and here we are ..
What a ride thru total desolation.. but also the beauty of nature.. will you feel like me after this novel? This book wants you to sign up for any nature preservation group period.
Also I like this somewhat unease mood that is going on from the start to the end. I liked all of the main characters.. and I can relate to their decisions and actions. Without feeling like I got educated about the environment.
Also liked the settle spice. Who am I kidding the description of him made my heart melt ;p hehe
Also just FYI, the book is written in multiple POVs and I do like that the life goes on with the other characters even tho the main character deals with their complete own thoughts.
The audio book is great too, and is read by several voice actors.
Also a plus by around 300 pages it doesn’t drag and isn’t as slow burn as some might let on. I mean what do you expect? Theme park action on a desolate island ??
Simply one of my favorite reads so far in 2025!