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Wild Dark Shore

A Novel

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Wild Dark Shore

Written by: Charlotte McConaghy
Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, Steve West
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About this listen

This program features multicast narration.

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

"The ensemble narration brings this intense story to life.” — AudioFile

"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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2025 Charlotte McConaghy (P)2025 Macmillan Audio
Editors Select Genre Fiction Psychological

What the critics say

“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

Editorial Review

Sub-Antarctic noir meets a love letter to the natural world
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of a remote island near Antarctica, home to the Shearwater research base and the world’s largest seed bank. Rising seas have been threatening the island, so the family must prepare to evacuate. When a woman named Rowan washes up on shore, the Salts take her in and nurse her back to health. As Rowan recovers, she gets to know the family: Raff, Dominic’s oldest son, is doing his best to channel his grief and rage from tragic heartbreak; Fen, his 17-year-old sister, is such a water creature that she lives among the seals; and Orly, the youngest boy, is consumed with love for the natural world. The storytelling moves through each character’s perspective, voiced by a stellar cast of narrators: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and Steve West. It’s an immersive, moody listen that left me in tears in the best way possible. —Tricia F., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Wild Dark Shore

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Story line

Loved every second of this book.
I’ve been in a slump, and this book kept me thinking of the stories and characters long after I finished.

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Profound and moving

This book was both unusual in plot and setting, and full of depth and emotion. It speaks to and of humanity, as well as the planet itself in a way that doesn’t preach or use gimmicks to provoke reactions, but to gently engage the reader with moments of beauty and sorrow that everyone can relate to. I couldn’t stop listening! Truly one of the best I’ve heard in ages, I can’t recommend enough!!

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Poignant & Gorgeous

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was sooooo good and genuinely had me wondering what the truth was for the majority of the book. The storytelling is beautiful, with such devastating descriptions of the state of the environment and climate change, which is anxiety-inducing, but I also found it to be so poignant and that much more precious for the fleeting nature of living things. There’s a line/thought that sticks with me that I’ll paraphrase badly here, the idea that we can try to protect ourselves from connection and loving things, but at the end of the day it’s impossible and inhuman and despite the agony of loss, all we can do is love something as completely as possible until it is gone 🤎 This is a gorgeous story of human connection, nature stewardship and loving authentically with everything you have, with a bit of romance and mystery/thriller elements tossed in. I’m so glad I finally downloaded it.

Also, who doesn’t love an Australian accent narration?

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Great Listen!

Narration was fantastic, made only by the story. Fantastic! 5 stars just doesn’t seem enough!

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Breath Taking.

Original and gripping. Stunning descriptions. Sad and wonderful. life changing. A must read. congratulations to Ms McConaghy.

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This story is captivating .

I loved the narration . I am so grateful to the author for creating this beautiful story , important, meaningful and heartbreaking.

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Love the vivid imagery she created

I sobbed. I feel like I should have expected how things turned out, but it still hit me hard and hurt my heart. What a beautifully written book

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An excellent book and narration

This is an excellent book, with great descriptions, character development and a twisting story. An excellent narration brought everything to life, I learned a lot about flora, fawna, seeds, the seed bank and animals too - bonus! Highly recommend!

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Interesting but not sure what it is trying to be

I enjoy multiple narrators and Saskia Maarleveld is one of my faves, so full points for that (though the guy who voiced Dom had a very low voice and was sometimes hard to make out). And I did enjoy the story but I was confused on what it was supposed to be. At times I felt lectured, other times, educated. I felt the love story detracted from the book -- I'm not huge on romance fiction and so wasn't expecting that. It was handled well enough but...I could have done without that side of it. Overall, worth a listen but I don't think I would have enjoyed as much reading it as having it read to me.

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Good story but terrible narration

I think the story was great overall, but honestly it’s hard to say - because the narration was just so terrible. I had to have the volume on full because of the mumbling tone the narrator used. Disappointing.

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