Dark, Salt, Clear

Life in a Cornish Fishing Town

By: Lamorna Ash

Narrated by: Lamorna Ash

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents Dark, Salt, Clear by Lamorna Ash, read by Lamorna Ash.

A BBC Radio 4 book of the week

A captivating, lyrical and deeply discerning portrait of life in the Cornish town of Newlyn, the largest working fishing port in Britain, from a brilliant debut writer

There is the Cornwall Lamorna Ash knew as a child – the idyllic, folklore-rich place where she spent her summer holidays. Then there is the Cornwall she discovers when, feeling increasingly dislocated in London, she moves to Newlyn, a fishing town near Land’s End. This Cornwall is messier and harder; it doesn’t seem like a place that would welcome strangers.

Before long, however, Lamorna finds herself on a week-long trawler trip with a crew of local fishermen, afforded a rare glimpse into their world, their warmth and their humour. Out on the water, miles from the coast, she learns how fishing requires you to confront who you are and what it is that tethers you to the land. But she also realises that this proud and compassionate community, sustained and defined by the sea for centuries, is under threat, living in the lengthening shadow cast by globalisation.

An evocative journey of personal discovery replete with the poetry and deep history of our fishing communities, Dark, Salt, Clear confirms Lamorna Ash as a strikingly original new voice.

©2020 Lamorna Ash (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

"Lamorna Ash evokes the vigour and complexity of the country’s westernmost fishing port with a love only a granite heart could resist. As Cornwall’s fishing and farming communities hold their breath to see whether leaving the EU will save or savage them, Dark, Salt, Clear arrives at the perfect time and should be cherished by natives, incomers and emmets alike." (Patrick Gale)

"Marks the birth of a new star of non-fiction." (William Dalrymple)

"With the heart of a novelist and the clarity of an ethnographer, Lamorna Ash reveals the Cornish fishing community of Newlyn in all its tension and hardship and wild joy. Dark, Salt, Clear is a book of deep immersion and a stunning debut." (Philip Marsden)

This is a great memoir by a talented young writer

Lamorna Ash threw herself into the world of this fishing town. The book is poignant and insightful. Unlike some reviewers i found her accent and voice pleasant and easy to understand.

The one criticism I have is the terrible quality of the copy editing / fact checking. Every good writer deserves and needs someone to carefully go over their sentences and facts. Getting a few things wrong and throwing in some bad sentences is human. Failing to correct these things does a disservice to writer and readers. Lamorna Ash deserves better. Maybe for the paperback someone from Bloomsbury will try a little harder. It’s not brain surgery.

What an experience

Amazing to have this experience. I’m impressed at the ability to get approved to go out on the boats and the personal nerve to do it. Cool to have the author read it too.

Brilliant Writers Should Not Narrate

Many writers refuse to tell their stories aloud lest they assume the book has been written; rather than merely told. Ash writes evocative prose with a lilt and style. She is Melville come alive with character, depth, enchantment. She draws a picture that is colored with fauve, nuance and shades. However, even at 0.7 speed, she is incomprehensible to the American ear. What disaster when she snatches defeat from the joys of a first book. I had to cease at chapter four and await and great Audible reader, anyone to do justice to this magnificent work.

Lamorna’s Connection

This is a wonderfully conceived and articulated memoir. How the sea and location of memory adds richness into personal history is communicated beautifully by Ms Ash.
After listening/reading this work I am left with more questions than answers which I believe was the authors intent. Much enjoyed!

Excellent

A truly engaging and intriguing read. Lamora’s narrative voice is strong and she effortlessly brings the reader along on her Cornish journey. Highly recommend!