Wild Dark Shore wins Dymocks Book of the Year 2025

We’re thrilled to share that Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy has been named Dymocks Book of the Year 2025.

The announcement was made last night at Dymocks' Book of the Year celebration at the stunning Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

Charlotte was there in person to accept the award, as well take part in an in conversation with Cassie Hamer and sign copies of Wild Dark Shore.

‘I'm so incredibly proud of Charlotte for winning Dymocks Book of the Year for her latest novel, Wild Dark Shore. She is someone who seems to tap into our deepest connections, our humanity, while asking us to be present to the things that really matter. As a writer, Charlotte goes from strength to strength. As a human being, she is exceptional. I could not be happier for her.’ – Nikki, Publisher

Voted on by Dymocks staff in all the stores and head office, the award is a real testament to how much everyone at Dymocks loves this book!

An exclusive hardback edition of Wild Dark Shore, produced by PRH, will be available in all Dymocks stores over the next week or so to celebrate this incredible honour.

About the book

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

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, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, 18 and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, 17, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; 9-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back towards the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realises Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters 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 heartstopping twists, dizzying beauty and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is a story about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us is ending.