Stranger on the Shore

John Symons author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd

Published:1st Apr '09

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Stranger on the Shore cover

Tracing the life of the author’s father, this passionate, vivid memoir follows him through his childhood in west England, his successful 25-year career in the Indian Army before the country’s independence in 1947, and his final years in Devonshire, where he raised a family while the symptoms of Huntington’s disease gradually set in. Born of a family of impoverished Cornish fishermen, he and his six sisters cared for their dying mother after losing their father at the start of World War I—before Huntington’s reared itself in their lives and lead to the death of three of the siblings. An absorbing, tense story of a building family crisis, this is an inspiring narrative showing that, through courage and faith in the face of great adversity, peace can be found.

"The writer is a consummate artist in style, with a poet’s eye for detail. The story is exceptionally vivid . . . expressing a deep faith and perception of the meaning of life, moving to tears, and searching."  —C. F. D. Moule, professor emeritus, theology, Cambridge University

"In its own way, a spiritual classic, covering ground I imagine never covered before."  —Dr. Giles Mercer, Catholic layman and scholar, Knight of St. Gregory

"Vastly moving (almost beyond bearing), instructive and humbling." —Simon Ricketts, author and editor

"Full of humanity and the valor of the human spirit, telling a tragic story, with no self-pity . . . You feel that you are there and connect the story with the experience of loss in your own life."  —Heather Skirton, National Health Service consultant

"Utterly compelling. A portrayal of how this cruel disease affects a family and the courage of their response; deeply moving and profound in its sensitivity, placing the story, at its end, in the wider theological context of how to make sense of human suffering, leaving it in the hands of God." —Rachel Brookes, nursing Sister "An overwhelming and challenging account of an acute life-and-death crisis, yet with plenty of touches of humour. An admirably pictured setting, here in England and in India. Compelling, moving, and so interesting historically. Full of evocative and detailed description. Easy to visualise the scenes and, above all, the characters." —Alan Forward, historian, the British Empire

"Despite the underlying tragedy, this is an uplifting book and an absorbing read. It is beautifully written. I read it from beginning to end, not skipping anything as sometimes happens."  —Cross Keys Magazine

"Stranger on the Shore is a beautiful [tribute] to a man who devoted his life to a large family. Underlying it all is a solid faith, born in the Wesleyan chapels of West Cornwall, that forms a bedrock underneath this loving family."  —Western Morning News

  • Long-listed for People's Book Prize: Non-Fiction 2010

ISBN: 9780856832642

Dimensions: 203mm x 146mm x 10mm

Weight: 272g

160 pages