The Sing of the Shore

A collection of stories steeped in coastal mysteries

Lucy Wood author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers

Published:7th Feb '19

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The Sing of the Shore cover

This collection of stories immerses readers in the haunting beauty of Cornwall, exploring themes of belonging and the impermanence of life in The Sing of the Shore.

In The Sing of the Shore, readers are invited into an uncanny and beautifully crafted collection of stories, deeply rooted in the enchanting Cornish landscape. The award-winning author, known for works such as Diving Belles and Other Stories and Weathering, paints a vivid picture of a Cornwall that lies beyond the typical tourist gaze. Here, the coastal scenery is imbued with a sense of mystery and depth, revealing the hidden narratives that pulse beneath the surface.

Set against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean, the stories explore the lives of various characters who navigate the complexities of existence in this unique locale. From restless children wandering through vacant holiday homes to surfers grappling with the undertow of familial obligations, each tale captures the essence of a place where the land and sea intertwine. A girl watches her childhood slip away amidst the chaos of a fairground, while siblings delve into the shadows of sea caves in search of lost treasures.

These mesmerizing stories evoke themes of landscape, belonging, and the delicate balance between permanence and transience. As the characters drift through their lives like flotsam caught in the tides, The Sing of the Shore reveals how deeply places can resonate within us, leaving an indelible mark that lingers long after the last page is turned.

Heart-thumping miniature thrillers. There’s an uncanny, delicate quality to much of Wood’s prose that belies how difficult this kind of writing is to pull off’ Guardian

‘She constructs a vivid, uneasy fictional geography of modern Cornwall’ Jonathan McAloon, Spectator

The Sing of the Shore shows Lucy Wood at the top of her considerable game. Best enjoyed with the woodburner stoked up and hail lashing the windows, these discreetly linked stories conjure a wholly original Cornish Gothic: now sad, now funny, now so profoundly creepy you’ll check that dark corner of the room before continuing’ Patrick Gale, author of Notes from an Exhibition

‘Rain-drenched, windswept and haunted – this is how I felt as I read The Sing of the Shore. Wood’s is a Cornwall filled with uneasy spirits, both living and dead, but that also welcomed me in with wry gossip and knowing looks. Absorbing, beautiful, and deeply uncanny, this collection soaked me through and will linger in my bones’ Zoe Gilbert, author of Folk

‘The sounds of the sea and the weather ripple through these eerie, exceptional stories set in a Cornwall that is, by turns, moody and melancholy, winder-filled and woebegone’ Eithne Farry, Daily Mail

‘The stories of The Sing of the Shore continue to resonate long after you have closed its covers, and form a remarkably fine collection, beautiful and unsettlingShiny New Books

‘These haunting, elegiac stories capture bleak moments of unfulfilled lives’ S Magazine, Sunday Express

‘Mesmerising short-story collection…the writing is so good it is hard to resist’ Leaf Arbuthnot, Sunday Times

‘Elegant new collection of stories … Every figure is wonderfully observed, their lives made poignant and moving in a few brief pages’ Lamorna Ash, TLS

ISBN: 9780008193409

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 15mm

Weight: 170g

272 pages