SEASCRAPER is a mesmerising portrait of a young man confined by his class and the ghosts of his family's past, dreaming of a bigger life.
*LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025*
'Benjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written' Douglas Stuart
Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp, spending the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street, and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.
When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?
Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.
About the Author
Benjamin Wood's first novel, The Bellwether Revivals, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won Le Prix du Roman Fnac. A finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, his other works have been shortlisted for the Encore Award, the CWA Gold Dagger Award and the European Prize for Literature. He is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at King's College London and lives in Surrey with his wife and sons.
Industry Reviews
Seascraper is powerful, poignant and poetic. I can’t recommend it enough
— Benjamin Myers, award-winning author of Cuddy
It is a sensuous treat, this novel. So much care has been given to every detail – of shrimps and sea mists and sinkpits, of work and music. A language of the sea washes over every page
— Ross Raisin, award-winning author of God's Own Country
I loved this hugely atmospheric story and its tender portrait of quiet Thomas Flett, a young man who secretly longs to make music, but whose dreams and prospects are constrained by his hard life, local community, upbringing and background. Then a passing American gives him – and us – a brief glimpse into what it means to aspire for something more. Haunting and beautiful, this is a very special novel indeed.
— Sarah Easter Collins, author of Things Don't Break on Their Own
Benjamin Wood is a singular voice. Intense, original, unforgettable
— Kelly Mullen
A quiet, unassuming book about honest work and modest dreams, about sons and their duty, and those brief, wonderful moments when we glimpse the possibility of living a different life. Benjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written
— Douglas Stuart
Wood is up there with the very best... he packs more poetry into his opening paragraph than many a Booker-winner achieves in their entire oeuvre
— Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Times
