The Bay

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A tender and poignant debut of the redemptive power of unexpected friendship.

In an old-fashioned fishing community on Morecambe Bay, change is imperceptibly slow. Treacherous tides sweep the quicksands, claiming everything in their path.

As a boy, Arthur had followed in his fathers and grandfathers footprints, learning to read the currents and shifting sands. Now retired and widowed, though, he feels invisible, redundant. His daughter wants him in a retirement home. No one listens to his rants about the newcomers striking out nightly onto the bay for cockles, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

When Arthurs path crosses Sulings, both are running out of options. Barely yet an adult, Sulings hopes for a better life have given way to fear: shes without papers or money, speaks no English, and chased by ruthless debt collectors. Her only next step is to trust the old man.

Combining warmth and suspense and recalling a true incident, The Bay tells a tender story about loneliness, confronting prejudice, and the comfort of friendship, however unlikelyas well as exposing one of the most pressing social ills of our age.

The Bayis an engrossing novel recalling the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster of 2004.

Reviews

'Careful and compassionate subtle, human and meaningful, but also full of humour, and precise and beautiful description.'

Author Bio

J.M. Rampen is a Scottish-Canadian journalist and writer with a long track record of working with refugees and undocumented migrants. She is Media Director of IMIX, a charity helping immigrants tell their stories, and has worked for The Toronto Globe & Mail, The New Statesman, and the Liverpool Echo, as well as contributing to the Guardian, BBC Radio, and Sky News. The Bay was written in consultation with those who investigated the Morecambe Bay tragedy at the time (2004) and told the survivors' stories, and Julias grandparents lived on Morecambe Bay. Hsiao-Hung Pai has written for The Guardian, Open Democracy, Feminist Review, Red Pepper, Socialist Review, Chinese Times UK, Chinese Weekly, The Storm, and many Chinese-language publications worldwide. She covered the cockle-picking tragedy for The Guardian in 2004.