I have a fascination, at least in fiction, with islands and wild untamed places. That’s why Wild Dark Shore seemed like a great book for me.
A woman comes ashore, nearly drowned and badly injured, on a remote island south of Tasmania during a terrible storm. The island is only occupied by its caretaker, Dominic, and his three children. When she awakens, the woman, Rowan, claims she was not on the way there, but there is nowhere else she could have been going. Dominic feels she is lying. But Rowan thinks the family is hiding something.
Fairly quickly, we learn that Rowan is the wife of Hank, one of the scientists on the island. But Dominic tells her the scientists left the island, and someone wrecked all the comms (communication devices). The family and Rowan are trapped there without the ability to communicate until the next boat comes in eight weeks.
What Rowan doesn’t say is that she received a letter from Hank saying his life was in danger. Rowan can’t understand why he would have left the island without telling her.
Rowan begins to get to know and love the island, which is teeming with wildlife, and the family. There is Raffi, 18, a young man with a reading problem who plays the violin and likes to record whale songs; Fen, 17, who is fascinated by the seals and spends most of her time with them. She seems haunted, though, and won’t spend the night in the lighthouse where the family lives. Then there is Orly, a brilliant boy who loves botany but is still a nine-year-old. Dominic, a widower, still hears his wife and feels her near him.
Rowan learns that the reason the scientists left is that sea levels are rising and the seed bank on the island, an important repository of millions of seeds, is being shut down. Dominic is packing the seeds that are to be removed when the ship comes, but many will be lost. Rowan can’t understand why Hank, who was in charge of the seed bank, would have left.
This novel is terrific. It has all the things I look for in a really good book—an involving story, interesting characters, a palpable sense of setting, and a strong evocation of emotion. I loved it.
What? Me Read? 