The Offing

About this book

An Observer Pick for 2019 One summer following the Second World War Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham village. Sixteen and the son of a coal miner he makes his way across the northern countryside until he reaches the former smuggling village of Robin Hoods Bay. There he meets Dulcie an eccentric worldly older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage facing out to sea. Staying with Dulcie Roberts life opens into one of rich food sea-swimming sunburn and poetry. The two come from different worlds yet as the summer months pass they form an unlikely friendship that will profoundly alter their futures.