Today I’m thrilled to say I have The Draw Of The Sea by Wyl Menmuir on the blog today. Thanks to Random Things Tours and Aurum for my copy of the book.
Wyl Menmuir’s The Draw of the Sea is a beautifully written and deeply moving portrait of the Cornish Coast and the people who make their livings there, examining the ephemeral but universal pull the sea holds over the human imagination.
Since the earliest stages of human development, the sea has fascinated and entranced us. It feeds us, sustaining communities and providing livelihoods, but it also holds immense destructive power which can take all those away in an instant.
It connects us to far away places, offering the promise of new lands and voyages of discovery, but also shapes our borders, carving divisions between landmasses and eroding the very ground beneath our feet.
In this beautifully-written meditation on what it is that draws us to the waters’ edge, author Wyl Menmuir tells the stories of the people whose lives revolve around the sea in the Cornish community where he lives.
In twelve interlinked chapters, Menmuir explores the lives of local fishermen steeped in the rich traditions of a fishing community, the beachcombers who wander the shores in search of the varied objects which wash ashore and the stories they tell, and all number of others who have made their lives on the beautiful Cornwall coast.
In the specifics of these livelihoods and their rich histories and traditions, Wyl Menmuir captures the universal human connection to the sea. Into this seductive tapestry, Wyl weaves the story of how the sea has beckoned, consoled and restored him.
This book is a meaningful and moving work into how we interact with the environment around us, and how it comes to shape the course of our lives. As unmissable as it is compelling, as profound as it is personal, this must-read book will delight anyone familiar with the intimate and powerful pull which the sea holds over us
I do not read an overly lot of non-fiction, but when I opened up this book and began to read, Wyl Menmuir’s words entranced me. This is not my usual reaction, I can promise you.
A beautifully written book in which Wyl Menmuir travels around Cornwall, the Scilly Isles and even up to Svalbard to discover the tales of people who are lovers of the coast like he is. He even moved to Cornwall specifically to live close to the sea. The book has 12 chapters. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the groups of people he met. Surfers, wreckers, rock pollens and scavengers all their stories are here.
It’s a book rich with insight, he doesn’t just tell their stories. Every group of people he spends time with, he joins in whatever they do. He goes walrus watching, hunting for cowrie shells, sea swimming, fighting rowing and even has a go at free diving! There are some people who have had connections to the sea for generations. I found it such a heartfelt insight to the many people whose connections make the sea more than just a pretty picture.
I have never lived by the sea and this book makes me wish that I did. Wyl Menmuir somehow manages to make his love of the sea transcend the pages of this book. I so enjoyed just reading a chapter at a time. The way he has set the stories out makes it such an easy book to dip in and out, as and when you want.
I must say that even the flow of the book is seamless, the chapters are interlinked with no jarring of the change over. I for one, appreciated and revelled in this lyrical, heartfelt and expertly written book. The Draw Of The Sea, definitely drew me in!
Buy Link https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09XTC1CWT/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_T105RSP7S2JMFH0T1PK5
Author Bio
Wyl Menmuir is a novelist, editor and literary consultant based in Cornwall. He is the author of the Man-Booker nominated novel and Observer Best Fiction of the year pick,The Many, and Fox Fires. His short fiction has appeared in Best British Short Stories and he has been published by Nightjar Press, Kneehigh Theatre and the National Trust. He has written for Radio 4’s Open Book, The Guardian and The Observer, and is a regular contributor to the journal Elementum.Born in Stockport in 1979, Wyl now lives in Cornwall with his wife and two children. He is co-creator of the Cornish writing centre, The Writers’ Block, and works with Arvon Foundation, National Literacy Trust and Centre for Literacy in Primary Education on national literacy programmes, as well as lecturer in creative writing at Falmouth University.When he is not writing or teaching writing, Wyl enjoys messing around in boats.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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No problem Anne, it was a pleasure x
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