The Fisherman's Gift

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Description

The entrancing and heart-breaking story of a lost boy, a tragic love affair and a seafaring community's buried secrets finally coming to light. A story of love, lost and found. Winter, 1900. A little boy washes up on the beach of a small fishing village in Scotland, barely alive. He bears an uncanny resemblance to teacher Dorothy's son, lost to the sea many years before. When the village is snowed in, Dorothy agrees to look after the child until he can be returned home. But, as the past rises to meet the present, long-buried secrets in this tight-knit community start to come to light, like the snowdrops pushing up through the ice. And Dorothy finds herself thrown together again with the reclusive fisherman Joseph, after years of keeping their distance. Bursting with tension and tenderness, this is an exquisite love story that delves into the griefs and hopes that can lie behind village gossip. The sea grew higher and fiercer around her and now she heard their voices, the children of the waves, Come away, come away

Reviews

As searing as a winter wind. In her debut novel, Julia Kelly takes us to the cliffside fishing village of Skerry, Scotland and walks us right up to the precipice of a mothers grief. With perfect pacing and vivid prose, Kelly shows us not just what was but what could have been, and therein lies this books real gift. -- Rachel Beanland, author of FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER and THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE

Spectacular... a gift to readers everywhere...a treasure. This layered, heartfelt and sturdy
novel is beautifully told and deeply rendered. Scotland in winter can be brutal, so can memories that haunt us with the desperation that comes from guilt. Yet, the heart of this novel is a blazing fire, throwing warmth and light. I imagine that this novel will be shared and read in the years to come by readers who long for a great story well told. I didn't want it to end.

Author Bio

Julia is a mother, writer and teacher. She has been longlisted for The Mslexia Novel Prize, The Exeter Novel Prize, PenguinWriteNow and the Bath Novel Award. In 2021 she won the Blue Pencil First Novel Award. Having grown up in a house without television, Julia read anything she could lay her hands on from an early age and as an English teacher, has tried to pass on her love of stories to the next generation of readers and writers. Since becoming a wheelchair user, Julia appreciates even more the journeys the written word can take us on. She lives in Herefordshire with her partner and dog and between them, they have raised five wonderful children. THE FISHERMAN'S GIFT is her debut novel.