Australian author Charlotte McConaghy’s latest novel, Wild Dark Shore, centers on a mysterious woman who washes ashore on a remote island between New Zealand and Antarctica. The novel’s gripping narrative explores themes of survival, loss, and humanity’s relationship with a rapidly changing environment.
Speaking with ABC Radio National’s The Book Show, McConaghy revealed that Wild Dark Shore was the most challenging novel she has written. “I wrote the first 25,000 words four times and deleted them four times,” she said. “It took a lot more planning than I’m used to doing… It needed to have a propulsive mystery storyline, but also a vivid sense of place and emotional depth.”
To overcome writer’s block, McConaghy undertook a research trip to Macquarie Island, a subantarctic island roughly halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica, accessible only via a two-week ocean voyage. Traveling with her 16-month-old son, she described arriving to a dramatic landscape teeming with wildlife, but also haunted by its dark history.
Macquarie Island, governed by Tasmania, was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1933 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The island’s rusting relics from 19th-century oil-extraction activities serve as reminders of the environmental destruction once wrought upon its penguin populations.
Inspired by this “haunted” setting, McConaghy created Shearwater Island in her novel—a place where rising sea levels and violent weather threaten an isolated seed vault modeled on the real-world Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. The vault is designed to preserve thousands of plant species against extinction, but climate change challenges its very survival.
The story follows the Salt family—Dominic, a caretaker, and his three children—as they struggle to protect the vault amid flooding and isolation. The family’s fragile existence is disrupted when a mysterious woman, Rowan, is rescued from the ocean during a storm, raising questions about her origins and intentions.
McConaghy’s background in screenwriting informs the novel’s clear, action-driven style, blending poetic emotional descriptions with a fast-paced thriller structure. Reviewers have praised the book as “impossible to put down,” noting its blend of mystery, family drama, and a passionate plea for environmental stewardship.
This is the third novel by McConaghy to explore wild, vulnerable landscapes under threat from climate change, following Migrations (2020) and Once There Were Wolves (2021). The author says her work reflects a deep connection to nature and a desire to inspire readers to act on the climate crisis.
“I’m hoping people feel moved by these stories, and that it leads to action,” McConaghy said. “We’re at a crucial point, and intimate human stories can provide hope amid overwhelming challenges.”
Wild Dark Shore was published earlier this year and quickly became a New York Times bestseller.
