"Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy

An audio book

Several PoVs (and readers!)

Rowan is found on the shore of Shearwater Island. She's wounded, has hypothermia, and then recovers. The island (close to Antarctica, owned by Tasmania) has an internationally important seed store. The research station has been abandoned. One family is left, living in the lighthouse. There's Dominic, the widowered father who still talks to his wife, with children Raff, Fen (girl, 17) and Orly, about 9. They've been there 8 years. Clare's been dead for 9 years. In 6 weeks, they and the seed store will be collected - the rising sea-level will make the island disappear before long. They're short of power and fresh water. The radio's been broken.

A decade or so before Rowan had bought land and built a house. Hank came into her life. He wanted children, she didn't. Their house burnt down. They'd searched through the ruins. She's gone to live with her sister. He went away for a year to become team leader on the Island. He didn't return to her. She thinks that Dom may have killed him. Dom recognises her. She tries to get the children on her side. They find out who she is. Raff had been in love with Alex, a fellow violinist from the research camp. Fen's not allowed to sleep in the house (because Dom doesn't trust himself?). She loves the sea. Orly knows a lot about botany - his interesting facts punctuate the book.

Rowan has come to the island because she'd got a worrying message from Hank (47). Dom confirms that he was troubled, that they'd tried to help him. Dom digs up a grave - it's Alex's not Hank's. Alex died in a storm-induced accident - did he hang himself? His brother Tom, 8 years older, had been on the island too. Rowan's younger brother River had drowned while she was supposed to be looking after him. Dom and Rowan make love.

The family wonder where they'll go from here. A whale capsizes Raff and Rowan. They recover. Fen burns her father's horde of Claire's stuff, for his sake. The seed store is broken into by the sea. They have to decide which seeds to save. Hank had been the expert. He'd trained Orly. A mother and child whale become beached. Dom must decide whether to save the whales or the seeds. They try to do both. They free the child whale. The mother is more of a problem, but they free her too.

Rowan finds Hank locked in a room in the seed store. We go back in time, Fen's PoV. Fen and Hank had an affair. She'd told him she was pregnant. He'd tried to drown her. He'd tried to drown the seeds. Dom had battered Hank, Raff had dragged Dom away, then Dom imprisoned Hank.

We learn that Rowan had cancer when she was pregnant with Orly. She made a decision to have Orly rather than have an abortion and save herself. Dom could have over-ruled her.

It was Orly who had destroyed the radio equipment to make sure that Dom finished the seed-sorting work. Rowan, thinking Dom mad for imprisoning Hank, learns from Fen that Hank was dangerous. When the sea begins to flood Hank's cell she's unsure whether he should be saved. Orly decides to save him. When he releases Hank, he locks Orly in. Rowan saves him as he's drowning by giving him her last breath of air. Dom is freed of his demons - Claire's accusatory voice. Meanwhile, Hank tracks down Fen. Raff deals with him. So in the end the family leave the island but nobody else does.

In general, the smaller the island, the more symbolic the action. The story begins and ends with the same 4 people. Alex affects Raff. Rowan changes Dom. Hank affects Fen and Orly. There's a pile-up of action at the end. I hadn't expected Hank to appear, and I certainly hadn't expected young Orly to have been the saboteur. The symbolism of the whales (motherhood; choice of who to save) felt a little heavy-handed. I don't like "narrow in shape"

Other reviews

• Jen Shoop (Do we save the ones most likely to thrive and nourish? Do we protect the rarest of the lot, the ones most likely never to come back? Or do we permit our own imperfect hearts to make the call, favoring those whose features move us? ... Do we save the ones most likely to thrive and nourish? Do we protect the rarest of the lot, the ones most likely never to come back? Or do we permit our own imperfect hearts to make the call, favoring those whose features move us?)
• whatisquinnreading (The only (barely) negative thing I can say about Wild Dark Shore is that the literary thriller-mystery includes more moments of melodrama than I would’ve anticipated (that whale scene comes to mind — IYKYK).)
• David Burton (It is clear McConaghy is reaching for literary acclaim here. She will receive it and deserves it, but the prose comes close to indulgent in its constant lyricism. Even though the novel switches between diverse points of view, the narrative voice never alters. Even the youngest child is capable of a stream of beautifully articulated poetic thought, filled with thematic relevant allegory and desolate imagery.)