Wild Dark Shore: A Novel

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a slow start for me, but all the secrets made me very curious. The story touches on a few very relatable topics that tugged at my heart for each character. The struggle of single parenthood for Dom and the pain of heartbreak for Raff. Being surrounded by boys and raised only by a man as a teenage girl who has questions and curiosities within herself, but no one to ask or confide in for Fen and having interests in the world around him and being full of fear of the possibility of leaving the only world he knows for Orly. Rowan struggles with her past trauma causing her to not want children, then changing her mind as she falls in love with this new family she meets and being confronted with her past in the end, she really has to reach a place of forgiveness within herself to find peace. Her sacrifice to save Orly was her way of “saving” her brother when she couldn’t as a child. There is so much beauty and honor in that, it was a beautiful story. I was confused about Dom seeing the ghost of his wife, then suddenly she’s not mentioned being seen anymore. Orly is said to see/hear “voices”, but its never really explained why or what purpose this serves in the story. It’s difficult for me to follow along well when the story is told in so many POV’s, so I didn’t like that every chapter was a different character viewpoint.

It is hard to discuss this book without spoiling any of the eerie mysteries and secrets of the isolated island. This book brought me in with such intrigue, started to tug my heart strings though the innocence of the animals and then the innocence of the inhabitants. By the end of this book, my emotions were high as I debated if I would call this a vacation read, weekend read, or a must read.

For 8 years, following the death of his wife and their mother, Dominic Salt and his 3 children, Raff, Fen and Orly have been living on the remote island of Shearwater between Tasmania and Antarctica. There is a lighthouse, global seedbank and research base on the island. However, rising sea levels and the melting permafrost have led to the island being no longer viable. The family and researchers must prepare to pack up and permanently leave the island, taking with them as many of the seeds as possible from the seedbank. The novel begins 6 weeks prior to the anticipated arrival of the ship, when a mystery women, Rohan, washes up on the shore, barely alive. Her reasons for wanting to land on the island are gradually revealed, as connections are formed between Rohan and the various members of the Salt family. Over a short time, the complicated histories of the island, its animal populations and those of the people living there are drawn out with many engrossing twists and turns. I was quickly drawn into the intrigue and suspense novel, and was absorbed by the increasing drama that unfolded over those few short weeks leading up to the arrival of the Naval Icebreaker vessel.