Sea Defences

Hilary Taylor

‘Fans of Broadchurch will love it’ Sarah Linley

RUNNER-UP: New Angle Prize

SHORTLISTED: Paul Torday Memorial Prize

SHORTLISTED: Creative Suffolk Author Award

Rachel, a trainee vicar struggling to bond with her flock in the coastal town of Holthorpe, learns the terrifying power of the North Sea when her six-year-old daughter goes missing on the beach.

Meanwhile Mary, a defiant and distrustful loner, is fighting her own battle against nature as the crumbling Norfolk shoreline brings her clifftop home ever closer to destruction.

Both scarred by life, the two women are drawn into an unlikely friendship, but Mary’s misfit son Adam is nursing a secret. For Rachel, it will subject her battered faith to its greatest test: will she be strong enough to forgive?

In her taut, lyrical debut novel, Hilary Taylor weaves the bleak power of the East Anglian winter into a searingly honest psychological drama, as gripping as any thriller.

‘A tender, poignant and compassionate literary thriller’ Philippa East

‘A mystery with heart and souls. Highly recommended’ Frances Quinn

‘A stunning debut. You too could be swept away’ Saga Magazine

‘Compelling and powerful, laced with mystery and full of heart’ Alison Moore

‘Wonderful’ Janet Ellis

‘A gripping read. Totally believable – and heartbreaking’ Woman Alive

‘Powerful and raw, like the sea she describes so evocatively. Wonderful writing’ Amanda Berriman

Paperback: 338pp

Published: Lightning (January 2023)

ISBN: 9781785633355