Book Report

Ok y’all, this post is going to be niche, maybe even inadvisable as a second post, but I don’t care, I can’t stop thinking about it, and wondering if you’ve read it too??

I’m talking about Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. I know this isn’t a new book, and sure BookTok has covered it thoroughly, but I’m here to tell you it is worth the read. But first, let me tell you how I got here. Throughout my adult life, I’ve been a big audio book fan. I’m sure it picked up as my time in the car did, and then time in front of the computer, a canvas, errands. Trying to shut my brain off at night. 

This being my preference for consuming mostly fiction, the voice reading to me has always been as important as the story itself. So I find myself pulled, unsurprisingly, to stories set somewhere in the UK or Europe and have found myself on somewhat of a bender until it came to the book before Wild Dark Shore. Before Wild Dark Shore, I was reading Habits of the Sea. Story was good. Interesting enough, had some twists and turns, themes that were unexpected. An unconventional love story. But the thing is, the narration of the audiobook, in my opinion, wasn’t it. I’m not going to drag it but let’s just say I dusted off the old Kindle and read- actually read- my first book in years. And I realized something. I need to actually read more. Not just have a story humming in my ear. I need to sit. And read. 

Enter Wild Dark Shore. As you might imagine given the thematic title, it was a recommended next read on Kindle. 

As this summer lettuce from hell would have it, I was laid out for several days and devoured this book (the book only, appetite zero, and still mad that we can’t even have our summer salads, like what in the dystopian Caesar salad is going on??). 

I read this book in two sittings and I don’t know if I’ll stop thinking about it for a while. I’ve gone back and forth, between loving it and kind of hating it. Read it and you’ll know why. But ultimately, character-driven plot aside, it truly makes you think about the earth, the fragility of sustaining life and stewarding well. It’s hard not to think about this as wild fires rage on six continents, all but Antarctica. While this is not on its face completely uncommon this time of year, the intensity is record breaking (and heart breaking). 

I live in a city that is sinking. And yet developers, mostly from out of town, see fit to continue to build and fill and quite literally weigh down our ecosystem. Did you know that approximately 50% of downtown Charleston sits on artificially filled marsh? Of course not all recently filled, but this is our foundation. And in the name of progress and prosperity, we continue to “develop” at the cost of something so precious and increasingly fragile. 

I know for my part, as a designer, there are many things we can do to play our part in conservation. That’s a different and specific post. For now, what I will say is read Wild Dark Shore. For the story and the message. 

Have you read it? What did you think?

xo,