Books The Draw of the Sea, plus reading recommendations

Of The Sea

Author Wyl Menmuir explores the human pull towards the coast

Since the earliest stages of human development, the sea has fascinated and entranced us, sustained communities and provided livelihoods. It fires our imagination, brings us joy and solace - but also wields immense destructive power. It offers the promise of faraway lands, but also shapes our borders and erodes the very ground beneath our feet.

Booker Prize nominated author Wyl Menmuir makes his first foray into non-fiction with The Draw of the Sea, in which he meets those who spend their lives by the water – fishermen and free divers, sailors and surfers, artists and environmentalists, those who have turned to it for health reasons – and attempts to define the role the sea plays in our lives. “It does so much for us: it’s work, it’s play, it feeds us and heals us,” he says.

Wyl had already made his reputation with novels – his 2016 debut was longlisted for the Booker Prize, no less. The Many is a mystery set in an isolated coastal village, and it was on festival circuit that Wyl had the idea for a non-fiction work about how humankind relates to the sea.

“People would want to know where The Many was set, and many recognised it as their own village,” he recalls. “One elderly gentleman in Piccadilly swore blind it was his home in west Wales, and begged me: ‘Please don’t tell me it isn’t my village.’ Above all, people wanted to share their feelings about the sea.” Clay Country residents for Kneehigh’s Walk With Me story-telling app. “Fiction and non-fiction are not so different, in that they are simply alternative ways of telling stories,” he says.

In 13 interlinked chapters, Wyl sets out to investigate what it is that draws us to the water’s edge. He starts with Jane Darke, widow of filmmaker Nick and an experienced beachcomber; and ends with rake artist Tony Plant, known for his expansive and intricate work on sand. In between, he searches Scillonian beaches for tiny shells, swims with freediving photographer Daan Verhoeven, handplanes surf boards in Porthtowan and even runs away to sea on a tall ship bound for the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

In that sense, the book sounds like the perfect excuse to sample lots of different activities, especially for someone who clearly loves being in the water. “It was so much fun,” Wyl enthuses. “That’s the privilege of being a writer. We all take a different path to the sea, and in this book I wanted to trace those lines.”

Wyl himself grew up in landlocked Stockport, where the only water was “the brown waters of the River Mersey, which passed under Asda”. Therein lies the appeal: “Inland, everything is parcelled up in some way. There are so many places you can’t go. When we went on holiday to the seaside, it felt like unregulated space.”

Having started his own family, he moved down to Cornwall to be nearer his wife’s parents, and is a lecturer in creative writing at Falmouth University and co-creator of The Writers’ Block, working with children, adults, schools, communities and more. “Even though I’m a northerner, Cornwall feels like home now.”

At the bottom of it all is a serious message. “We want to use the sea as our playground, our fishing grounds, but we’re not so good at looking after it and protecting it. We need to get better at that, and pass the experience onto our children, and their children.

“This isn’t a book of hard campaigning, but the idea behind it is to get people to explore the way in which we love the sea, and from that work out ways in which they can protect the thing they love.” l

The Draw of the Sea is published by Aurum, RRP £12.99 (hardback).

Whistling Jack

Josephine Gardiner Hypatia Publications. In the summer of 1976, 11-year-old Sally Martins and her friends spend days and nights at an abandoned house on the subtropical landslip known as the Fall. When they discover the body of a young girl, they do not report it; six years later, as teenagers, they face an inevitable reckoning. At the same time, Sally starts reading the journal of impoverished curate James Prideaux, who witnessed the landslip at the Fall 200 years earlier on the day a young girl went missing. Separated by two centuries, the crises echo each other and show how being the 'innocent bystander' has consequences. A debut novel by Cornwall-based writer Gardiner, Whistling Jack appears in the Cream of Cornish slot at the North Cornwall Book Festival. www.ncornbookfest.org From the Cliffs of Cornwall to Kilimanjaro

Eric Marks Troubadour, £14.99. In 2018, aged 76, the author trained to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa by walking over 252 miles with his nephew along the South West Coast Path through Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. Was this a late-life crisis, or what? Eric shares his memories and stories with the reader, from the comforting sights of home to the exotic landscapes of Africa, the great seascapes he saw, and the fascinating people he met, unexpected situations and near-death moments. One thing is certain: Eric proves you’re only as old as you accept you are. Ebb and Flo and the Sea Monster

Jane Simmons Graffeg Publishing, £7.99. A journey home from Granny’s house turns into a big adventure when Ebb, Flo, Mum and Bird end up marooned. They camp out for the night, but when Mum heads off to find some wood, Ebb and Flo think they see a sea monster... but sea monsters don’t exist, do they? The trio find that making the most out of what seems to be a bad situation can lead to some interesting experiences. Inspired by the mythical creature Morgawr, this tale gives under fives an insight into life on the coast and invites conversations about seaside safety. Ebb and Flo and the Greedy Gulls is due for publication in August, while the first two books have been adapted into an animated TV series narrated by Fiona Shaw, which can be viewed on YouTube. The South West Coast Path: 1,000 Mini Adventures Along Britain's Longest Waymarked Path

Stephen Neale Bloomsbury, £20. This inspiring guidebook highlights adventures to enjoy along the entire 630-mile route, offering cherry-picked, time-saving and inexpensive ideas for wild days out. Divided into regions, it explores the best places to get closer to nature and shows the locations for hidden beaches, woodland areas, wild swims, kayaking and camping. It also points out hill forts, starlit cliffs, caves and pools, while foraging for nettles, crabs and shrimps, and supplying useful information on great places to stay the night or grab a bite to eat. All with simple directions, engaging writing and beautiful photography.