It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation, hosted by Kate of Books are my Favourite and Best. The idea is that Kate chooses a book to use as a starting point and then we have to link it to six other books of our choice to form a chain. A book doesn’t have to be connected to all of the others on the list – only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, which was longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction.
I haven’t read it but here’s what it’s about:
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny weather-lashed island that is home to the world’s largest seed bank. As Shearwater risks being lost to rising sea levels, the island’s researchers have fled, and only the Salts remain.
Until, during the worst storm in living memory, a stranger washes ashore. The family nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, but it seems she isn’t telling the whole truth about why she’s there. And when Rowan stumbles upon sabotaged radios and a recently dug grave, she realises that she’s not the only one on the island with a secret.
A novel of breathtaking twists and dizzying beauty, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love.
My first thought was to link to a book set on an island, but I’m sure I’ve done that a few times before, so I went with a simple link to a book with Dark in the title instead. The Dark (1) is the fifth book in Sharon Bolton’s Lacey Flint series and begins with Lacey, who works for the Metropolitan Police Marine Unit, becoming caught up in a terrorist attack planned by a new group calling themselves MenMatter.
Another book that’s the fifth in a series is The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (2). It’s part of the Palliser series and in this book we see our old friend Plantagenet Palliser become Prime Minister at last while in another subplot, we follow lawyer’s daughter Emily Wharton who has fallen in love with the book’s villain, Ferdinand Lopez. I really need to pick up the final book in the series soon.
The next link is quite an obvious one – another novel about a Prime Minister – this time a real one! Precipice by Robert Harris (3) tells the story of Herbert Henry Asquith who was in power from 1908 to 1916. The book focuses on his relationship with the socialite Venetia Stanley and the way he handled the early stages of the First World War. It’s a fascinating novel from a political history point of view, although I didn’t find it as gripping as some of his other books.
Penitence by Kristin Koval (4) also has a one-word, nine-letter title beginning with P and ending with E. Set in a Colorado ski resort, it takes as its starting point the murder of a teenage boy by his own sister and goes on to explore the laws surrounding juvenile crimes, as well as raising questions about blame and forgiveness.
Another crime novel set in a ski resort is Dead Men Don’t Ski by Patricia Moyes (5). I’ve just finished reading this one so haven’t written a review yet. It was published in 1959 and is the first of many novels Moyes wrote featuring Inspector Henry Tibbett. In this one, Tibbett goes on a skiing trip to Italy with his wife and is drawn into solving the murder of a man who appears to have been shot dead on the ski lift. I enjoyed this book and will be reading more of them!
An author who shares a name with Patricia Moyes is Patricia Highsmith. I’ve only read two of her books and have used Strangers on a Train in a previous chain, so my link here is to This Sweet Sickness (6). This unsettling novel follows the double life of a man who refuses to accept that his relationship with the woman he loves is over.
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And that’s my chain for May! My links have included: the word Dark, fifth books in a series, Prime Ministers, one word titles beginning with P, ski resorts and authors called Patricia.
Next month we’ll be starting with a book by Austrian author Stefan Zweig – The Post-Office Girl
She Reads Novels 
Interestingly, I’m familiar with – at least – the authors in your first three choices, but not the second three (well, of course I’ve heard of Highsmith, just not read her work). They definitely look worth seeking out. Great chain!
I enjoyed all of the books in my chain this month and am particularly looking forward to exploring more of Patricia Moyes’ work.
Noted. Thanks!
Very nicely done here, with your twisty links!
Thanks!
Nice links, 9 letters, and number in a series – I must remember this, as it allows you to segue into something completely different. Well done!
Yes, I’ve used the number in a series link a few times before, I think, as it’s such a good way to send the chain in a different direction.
I like your Prime Minister link but the Precipice/Penitence one is particularly smart!
Thanks. I was just happy to have found another one word title beginning with P – then I realised they both also ended in E and had nine letters!
Love Highsmith, but have yet to read This Sweet Sickness. Must rectify that.
I loved This Sweet Sickness, although it’s quite a disturbing book at times. I must read more by Highsmith!
From Precipice to Penitence is genius!
The cover of This Sweet Sickness is eye-catching, and it sounds good. I’ve added it to my list.
Thanks! Yes, those new green Virago covers are very striking. I really enjoyed This Sweet Sickness.
I love your fifth book in a series link, though that would have driven one of my past commenters berserk because she liked to try to guess my links and that sort of one is very hard to guess. I think they are fun to do. I remember watching The Palliser series on TV way ago in the past, but I remember little except that I liked them.
I’ve been told Robert Harris’ books are good, but I never seem to get to one. I hadn’t heard of this one.
Yes, I can see how that fifth book in a series link wouldn’t be immediately obvious! Robert Harris is excellent – my favourite so far is An Officer and a Spy, but I’ve loved a lot of his books.
I was struck by the 5th volume in a series link but then came Precipice and Penitence, fab!!
I was lucky with the Precipice/Penitence link. I was just looking for another one word title beginning with P, then realised I had one that also ended with E and had nine letters!
Great chain. I haven’t read Precipice but my husband loved it.
Precipice isn’t one of my favourites by Robert Harris, but I’ve enjoyed nearly everything I’ve read by him so far.
Excellent chain!! I loved Precipice!
Yes, Precipice was great, although I’ve enjoyed some of his other books even more.
I’ve enjoyed the other ones by him that I’ve read as well.
Hi Helen
‘Wild Dark Shore’ seems to be an interesting read. That’s the third positive review of this novel I read. We’ll have a look into it.
Interesting, I took my oral exam for a university degree on Stefan Zweig. But I can’t really remember. I am curious to read what you think of his literature.
Klausbernd 🙂
I’m not sure if I will have time to read The Post Office Girl before next month (you don’t need to read the book to be able to take part in Six Degrees of Separation) but I would still like to read something by Stefan Zweig at some point.
Yay for a mention of Dead Men Don’t Ski! I read it back when I was living in a skiing area, so it was great fun, but it’s not a very well-known book even among crime fiction fans. I think it was Margot Kinberg who drew my attention to it.
I really enjoyed Dead Men Don’t Ski and am looking forward to reading more of Patricia Moyes’ books! I hope these new editions will help to make more people aware of them.
Great chain, Helen. I love the Precipice-Penitence link, especially; I haven’t read Precipice but must do soon, as I do enjoy Harris’ books. Also the Palliser books–I still have the last of the Barsets left as well, and most of the Pallisers. My last few Trollope reads have mostly been standalones.
I enjoyed Precipice – it wasn’t as exciting a thriller as some of Harris’ others, but it was fascinating from a political history perspective. I hope you like it. I haven’t tried any of Trollope’s standalones yet, but will be doing that as soon as I’ve finished the Palliser series.
I had read The Way We Live Now of course but it was with a goodreads group that I ended up picking up several others of the standalones including Castle Richmond and Dr Wortle’s School.