Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2017

A hauntingly beautiful social history of the Thames Estuary, from the author of On Brick Lane

Out at the eastern edge of England, between land and ocean, you will find beautiful, haunted salt marshes, coastal shallows and wide-open skies: the Thames Estuary. The estuary is an ancient gateway to England, a passage for numberless travellers in and out of London. And for generations, the people of Kent and Essex have lived and worked on the Estuary, learning its waters, losing loved ones to its deeps. Their heritage is a proud but never an easy one. In the face of a world changing around them, they endure.

Rachel Lichtenstein spent five years exploring this unique community and recording its extraordinary chorus of voices, present and past. From mud larkers and fishermen to radio pirates and champion racers, from buried princesses to unexploded bombs, Estuary is a celebration of a haunting & profoundly British place.

Publisher Review

Immersive, engrossing, evocative * The Lady * The Thames Estuary changes constantly. How do you make such a landscape comprehensible, and how do you render it vividly for the reader? Lichtenstein's outstanding book shows how it should be done. * Irish Times * Rachel Lichtenstein's electrifying exploration of the estuary * Spectator * Publisher's description. An immersive journey through the weird and haunting spaces of the Thames Estuary. Rachel Lichtenstein presents an extraordinary chorus of voices, from mudlarkers and fishermen to radio pirates and champion racers, capturing the incredibly diverse community of people who live and work in this ancient, wild and mesmerising place. * Penguin *