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Dark, Salt, Clear : Life in a Cornish Fishing Town - Lamorna Ash

Dark, Salt, Clear

Life in a Cornish Fishing Town

By: Lamorna Ash

Paperback | 1 April 2021

At a Glance

Paperback


$26.75

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A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week
Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize
A Sunday Times and Financial Times Book of the Year

'Marks the birth of a new star of non-fiction' William Dalrymple

'A beautiful account of immersion in an alien world' Philip Marsden, Guardian


There is the Cornwall Lamorna Ash knew as a child – the idyllic, folklore-rich place where she spent her summer holidays. Then there is the Cornwall she discovers when, feeling increasingly dislocated in London, she moves to Newlyn, a fishing town near Land's End. This Cornwall is messier and harder; it doesn't seem like a place that would welcome strangers.

But before long, Lamorna finds herself on a week-long trawler trip with a crew of local fishermen, afforded a rare glimpse into their world, their warmth and their humour. Out on the water, miles from the coast, she learns how fishing requires you to confront who you are and what it is that tethers you to the land. Dark, Salt, Clear is a bracing journey of discovery and a captivating portrait of a community sustained and defined by the sea for centuries.

About the Author

Lamorna Ash is a freelance writer and journalist. She has a degree in English from Oxford and a masters in Social and Cultural Anthropology from UCL. She can gut most kinds of fish, quite slowly. Dark, Salt, Clear is her first book.
Industry Reviews
“Ash gets to the salty heart of why [commercial fishing] still matters, not just to the communities in Cornwall it sustains, but for the richness and cultural heritage it represents ... Beyond the beauty of her prose, Ash's great strength lies in her ability to capture a sense of place”
Sunday Times, Books of the Year

“Part coming-of-age memoir, part anthropological study, Dark, Salt, Clear glistens with deftly told snippets and character-rich stories … Cornwall's harbourside cottages and ragged cliffs may look picturesque, but they hide an unsettling “anger and insularity”, she argues. With graceful lyricism and endearing humility, Ash gives this rage both voice and face”
Oliver Balch, Financial Times

“Terrific ... A hugely moving but unsentimental account of not only today's fishermen but also a salty, grafting, real-life England too rarely depicted in literature ... It is well-timed, feels rather important, and has excellent tips on the filleting of fish. What more could you want?”
Richard Benson, Mail on Sunday

“Lamorna Ash conjures a remarkable sense of place, her book deftly woven with a profound empathy for the people she encounters, as well as great literature, past and present. I loved this book”
Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia

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