A mesmerising portrait of a young man confined in by his class and the ghosts of his familys past dreaming of artistic fulfilment. It confirms Benjamin Wood as an exceptional talent in British literature.One of the finest British novelists of his generation TimesA huge talent Hilary MantelBenjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written Douglas StuartThomas lives a slow deliberate life with his mother in Longferry working his grandpas trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp spending the rest of the day selling his wares trying to wash away the salt and scum pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar.