Secrets of the Sea: A Novel

Nicholas Shakespeare

okt 2009. · Harper Collins

O ovoj e-knjizi

“A story as brooding and insular as the Tasmanian town in which it is set. . . . Expertly crafted, the novel illuminates love’s craggy depths.” —Publishers Weekly
 
Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize
 
Torn by tragedy from his early life on a remote farm in Tasmania, Alex Dove has returned to the rugged island off Australia’s southern coast years later to start over. A chance encounter with quiet, alluring Merridy Bowman—a young woman caring for her ailing father and similarly haunted by a tangled and catastrophic history—results in marriage, as two damaged souls unite to build a home, family, and livelihood far removed from civilization’s bustle.
 
Soon they are drawn into the unpredictable dynamics of small-town island life—and into the destructive orbit of an unscrupulous real estate agent who maintains a secret hold over both Doves. But when a shipwreck off the shore thrusts a troubled, possibly criminal teenage castaway into their world, Alex and Merridy’s tenuously forged happiness is suddenly at grave risk, as they are forced to confront deeper questions about the true meaning of fulfillment.
 
“Gripping . . . exhilarating . . . cathartic.”—The Times
 
“Elegant and enjoyable.” —The Spectator
 
“A very good novel indeed.” —The Scotsman

O autoru

Nicholas William Shakespeare is a British novelist and biographer who was born on March 3, 1957, in Worcester. He attended Winchester College and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He worked as a journalist for BBC Television and later as an arts and literary editor for "The Times". He soon after began his writing career. His first books include The Men Who Would Be king: A Look at Royalty in Exile, Londoners, and The Vision of Elena Silves. His later works include Inheritance, Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin, and Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister.