Wild Dark Shore Audiobook By Charlotte McConaghy cover art

Wild Dark Shore

Reese's Book Club Pick (A Novel)

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Wild Dark Shore

By: Charlotte McConaghy
Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, Steve West
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A Reese's Book Club pick and a 2026 Audie Awards finalist for Audiobook of the Year!

This program features multicast narration.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • #1 AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR 2025


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
“SPELLBINDING...Exceptionally imagined, thoroughly humane.” —Washington Post
“Abounds with EVOCATIVE nature writing.” —The New York Times Book 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.

"This contemplative, heart-wrenching story is a unique and engaging listening experience made even more vibrant by its narration.” —Bookpage (Starred Review)

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

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

Accolades & Awards

Best of 2025
Editors Select
Most Popular
Best of 2025 Editors Select Psychological Women's Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction Heartfelt

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

Captivating Mystery • Unexpected Plot Twists • Excellent Ensemble Cast • Beautiful Nature Descriptions • Emotional Depth

Highly rated for:

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This is a huge crowd favorite and I don’t get it. The story could have been better but the author made the reader dismiss any sort of reality and go with this outrageously fast story involving grief, instant love, childhood trauma AND climate change?! Call me old fashioned but what happened to a good, concise character arc?!

What am I missing?!

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Best audiobook I’ve listened to in a long time. I truly couldn’t shut it off. The imagery, the storyline, the twists and turns, I finished the audio book within a week.

Really encapsulating and wonderful

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I loved every word, person, plant and animal in this book. thank you so much for writing it.

absolutely fabulous book

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I am screaming. I am gutted. I am a puddle. I am in absolute awe of this incredible book.

The brand new novel called Wild Dark Shore is at the tiptop of my book recommendations from now until forever. The writing, this incredible moving writing, is leaving me breathless.

The novel takes place on the windswept, almost abandoned and wild landscape of an island near Antarctica. Where a family lives trying to save something so precious to the world and humanity. When a woman washes up on their shores the sanity they are all trying to hold together starts to come apart.

Secrets are being held deep inside. The winds are talking back. And the sea is rising and fighting. And your heart will be tested and pulled into pieces. This book is pure magic. I will forever remember the first time I read it and I urge you to be swept away by its wildness

INCREDIBLE!!!

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I loved the story but I thought the narration was odd because there was not a voice actor for Raff but there was for all the other main characters.

Great story but what about the narration?

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