The Offing: A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick - Softcover

Myers, Benjamin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1526611309 ISBN 13: 9781526611307

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Synopsis

'What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness ... Gorgeous'
Max Porter, author of Lanny

A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick
A BBC Radio 4 'Book at Bedtime'
An Observer Pick for 2019

One summer following the Second World War, Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham village. Sixteen and the son of a coal miner, he makes his way across the northern countryside until he reaches the former smuggling village of Robin Hood's Bay. There he meets Dulcie, an eccentric, worldly, older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage facing out to sea.

Staying with Dulcie, Robert's life opens into one of rich food, sea-swimming, sunburn and poetry. The two come from different worlds, yet as the summer months pass, they form an unlikely friendship that will profoundly alter their futures.

About this title

Review:

This quiet, lyrical novel confirms a powerful new voice (THE TIMES)

This is a poetic book with a winning generosity of spirit, moving from a folksy celebration of the rural north to a revelation of the broader horizons that can come from reading and some serious culture (SUNDAY TIMES)

It's a poignant story, and Myers' descriptions of the countryside are wonderful (MAIL ON SUNDAY)

One of the most interesting, restless writers of his generation . Unfurling at the unhurried pace of a fern, it's an evocatively lyrical paean to the countryside - deeply felt and closely observed (DAILY MAIL)

A draft of cool, clear water, it feels like a cleansing book ... He's such a good and brave writer . there's a lot of heart in this book ... I was comparing it to some Ted Hughes poetry and it's so much more hopeful than that . there's light in this landscape ... A very original writer and has pushed the form in all kinds of ways (MONOCLE)

Quietly gripping . Written with Myers's customary grit and brio . A welcome advance, one that sees Myers effortlessly extending his range (GUARDIAN)

What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness. Two complaints: it made me hungry, especially their first meal. It made me want to swim so badly. It's gorgeous (MAX PORTER)

A keenly observed and heartfelt appreciation of landscape and place (HERALD)

Myers' prose and poetry makes a celebration of the "new Ondaatje" a far less preposterous mantle than it may seem (CAUGHT BY THE RIVER)

Glorious ... Leaves an indelible impression ... A moving and subtle novel in many ways, infused with a love of the minute pleasures in life, and the lasting regrets (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)

Book Description:

From the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole comes a powerful new novel about an unlikely friendship between a young man and an older woman, set in the former smuggling village of Robin Hood's Bay in the aftermath of the Second World War

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 1526611309
• ISBN 13: 9781526611307
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272