Drifting upstream on the flood-tide in a dank October mist, a loosed dinghy carries the body of a once lovely girl, strangled. No mystery about who she was . . . everyone in the small Suffolk community devoted to music and sailing knew Hannah, the pleasant, reclusive Czech girl who lived alone in a Martello Tower by a lonely stretch of sand and shingle. The question is: who could have wanted her dead? Chief Superintendent George Gently, now living in the neighbourhood with his new wife, Gabrielle, is busy painting the stairs when the telephone rings: sighing, he agrees to help the local man with the initial stages of the investigation. But in spite of himself he's drawn into the mystery, as they start to question those who might have known Hannah well. Her ex-husband? Her bookshop employer? The local war-hero? The flashy ex-crook who now runs a pub? As the river ripples back and forth in the mellow autumnal sunshine, Gently and the lugubrious Inspector Leyston set about piecing together fragments from the dead girl's life: two dinghies drawn up on the riverbank by the church; a rendezvous note; two cigarette ends; a poem in Czech . . . it begins to seem that there was more to Hannah than met the eye. And gradually, into Gently's sympathetic and intuitive mind, understanding flows like the rising tide . . .

Adam Nicolson explores the marine life inhabiting seashore rockpools with a scientist’s curiosity and a poet’s wonder in this beautifully illustrated book. The sea is not made of water. Creatures are its genes. Look down as you crouch over the shallows and you will find a periwinkle or a prawn, a claw-displaying crab or a cluster of anemones ready to meet you. No need for binoculars or special stalking skills: go to the rocks and the living will say hello. Inside each rock pool tucked into one of the infinite crevices of the tidal coastline lies a rippling, silent, unknowable universe. Below the stillness of the surface course different currents of endless motion—the ebb and flow of the tide, the steady forward propulsion of the passage of time, and the tiny lifetimes of the rock pool’s creatures, all of which coalesce into the grand narrative of evolution. In Life Between the Tides, Adam Nicolson investigates one of the most revelatory habitats on earth. Under his microscope, we see a prawn’s head become a medieval helmet and a group of “winkles” transform into a Dickensian social scene, with mollusks munching on Stilton and glancing at their pocket watches. Or, rather, is a winkle more like Achilles, an ancient hero, throwing himself toward death for the sake of glory? For Nicolson, who writes “with scientific rigor and a poet’s sense of wonder” (The American Scholar), the world of the rock pools is infinite and as intricate as our own. As Nicolson journeys between the tides, both in the pools he builds along the coast of Scotland and through the timeline of scientific discovery, he is accompanied by great thinkers—no one can escape the pull of the sea. We meet Virginia Woolf and her Waves; a young T. S. Eliot peering into his own rock pool in Massachusetts; even Nicolson’s father-in-law, a classical scholar who would hunt for amethysts along the shoreline, his mind on Heraclitus and the other philosophers of ancient Greece. And, of course, scientists populate the pages; not only their discoveries, but also their doubts and errors, their moments of quiet observation and their thrilling realizations. Everything is within the rock pools, where you can look beyond your own reflection and find the miraculous an inch beneath your nose. “The soul wants to be wet,” Heraclitus said in Ephesus twenty-five hundred years ago. This marvelous book demonstrates why it is so. Includes Color and Black-and-White Photographs

At one time or another almost all boaters-and many non-boaters-fantasize about leaving behind the house, lawn, and neighbors and moving aboard a boat. But leaving behind a familiar, comfortable lifestyle for the Perils Of The Sea is a quantum leap, not to be taken lightly. That so few actually make thr break has less to do with the rigors of the lifestyle than the lack of information about what it's really like. Since 1972, Living Aboard Journal has served as an idea exchange for the members of the Homaflote Association-live-aboards from all walks of life spread all around the globe. Fueled by 18 years of the best letters, articles, and firsthand accounts from Living Aboard magazine, Gently With the Tides is a powerful testimonial to the lure and romance of living aboard a boat. It is also a compendium of the pitfalls, disappointments, and setbacks. Most of all, it is a high-octane dream-feeder for liveaboard aspirants. It will help them decide whether to, it will tell them how to, and, most important, it will fill their dreams with why to.

TikTok poet Shelby Leigh presents a moving and inspirational collection of poetry about growing up and embracing all the beauty life has to offer. The perfect gift for fans of Rupi Kaur, Connor Franta, and Cleo Wade. Shelby Leigh breaks up her poignant and reflective poetry collection into two themes: the anchor and the sail. While the anchor explores issues of insecurity, heartbreak, and anxiety, the sail focuses on healing and hope after the storm. With an emphasis on self-empowerment, changing with the tides is an evocative and celebratory set of poems for anyone who dreams of following their heart and embracing their true self.

Set on the Isles of Shoals, remote islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire, this page-turning YA debut weaves the Celtic ocean lore of selkies and a compelling mystery into a story about family secrets and love.

A beautiful debut novel set in the Outer Hebrides, The House Between Tides strips back layers of the past to reveal a dark mystery. In the present day, Hetty Deveraux returns to the family home of Muirlan House on a remote Hebridean island estate following the untimely death of her parents. Torn between selling the house and turning it into a hotel, Hetty undertakes urgent repairs, accidentally uncovering human remains. Who has been lying beneath the floorboards for a century? Were they murdered? Through diaries and letters she finds, Hetty discovers that the house was occupied at the turn of the century by distant relative Beatrice Blake, a young aristocratic woman recently married to renowned naturalist and painter, Theodore Blake. With socialist and suffragist leanings Beatrice is soon in conflict with her autocratic new husband, who is distant, and wrapped up in Cameron, a young man from the island. As Beatrice is also drawn to Cameron, life for them becomes dangerous, sparking a chain of events that will change many lives, leaving Hetty to assemble the jigsaw of clues piece by piece one hundred years later, as she obsessively chases the truth. In The House Between Tides, author Sarah Maine uses her skills as a storyteller to create an utterly compelling historical mystery set in a haunting and beautifully evoked location. 'Last night, debut author Maine dreamed of a contemporary spin on classic Gothic tropes. Orphan Hetty Deveraux has inherited a crumbling, wind-battered mansion on a remote Muirland Island in western Scotland, "on the edge of the world." The day she arrives to inspect her new property, however, local assessor James Cameron has found a skeleton beneath the floorboards. Who is it, and how long has it been there? Abandoned since the war, the house was the refuge of Theo Blake, a Turner-esque painter-turned-mad recluse and a distant relative of Hetty's. At loose ends since the deaths of her parents, Hetty hopes restoring the house will serve as a new beginning. Meanwhile, in 1910, Theo Blake brings his new bride to Muirland House, whose landscapes have inspired some of his most famous paintings. Maine skillfully balances a Daphne du Maurier atmosphere with a Barbara Vine-like psychological mystery as she guides the reader back and forth on these storylines. The two narrative threads are united by the theme of conservation versus exploitation: Muirland is a habitat for several species of rare birds, threatened in the 1910 plot by Blake's determination to kill and mount them for his collection and in the 2010 story by Hetty's half-formed plans to transform Muirland House into a luxury hotel. Local man Cameron wants to see the island preserved as "a precious place, wild and unspoiled, a sanctuary for more than just the birds." The setting emerges as the strongest personality in this compelling story, evoking passion in the characters as fierce as the storms which always lurk on the horizon. A debut historical thriller which deftly blends classic suspense with modern themes.' Kirkus 'Muirlan Island in Scotland's Outer Hebrides provides the sensuous setting for British author Maine's impressive debut, which charts the parallel quests of two women a century apart. [...] Vivid descriptions of the island's landscape and weather enhance this beautifully crafted novel.' Publisher's Weekly 'There is an echo of Daphne du Maurier's Rebeca in Sarah Maine's appealing debut noel, when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of a derelict mansion on a Scottish island... a highly readable debut.' Independent 'A tremendous accomplishment. So assured, so well-judged, and with such an involving story to tell, this might be the author's fifth or sixth novel, not her first. A literary star is born!' Ronald Frame, author of The Lantern Bearers and Havisham