A Booker Prize contender, this short novel tells the story of a young man trapped in a life of trawling for shrimps along the sea shore but dreaming of courting a local girl and performing at the folk club. A stranger appears to offer him the glamour of film making but all is not quite as it seems. A hard, traditional life on a bleak and dangerous northern sea shore is vividly depicted and makes the story well worth reading but I found the account of the sudden possible means of escape a little perfunctory and not totally convincing.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 120 Spring 2026 ) |
