The Offing

 
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
SOON TO BE A MAJOR FILM STARRING HELENA BONHAM-CARTER
 
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.
 

'Arresting and profoundly moving ... A state-of-the-nation novel, driven by love and concern ... A lament for the crumbling best of England. This a novel for our times' IRISH TIMES
 
'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
 
'Every page is studded with descriptive jewels . Deeply attuned to the natural world . Poetic . This book is a sensual pleasure . It's about the forever things: good food, and art, and friendship, and how those pleasures can redeem us, even during the harshest of times' NEW STATESMAN
 
'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
 

An i Book of the Year
A Times Book of the Year
A Reading Agency Book of the Year
A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick
A BBC Radio 4 'Book at Bedtime'
An Observer Pick for 2019
 
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 
ISBN: 9781526611307 
Number of pages: 272 
Weight: 193 g 
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
 
Available in hardback, paperback, kindle and audio formats