Dark, Salt, Clear

WINNER OF A SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD 2021
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.

Author Biography

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.