by Mark McShane
First published 2012
The cargo ship goes down in the icy Atlantic, and the crew finds themselves clinging to wreckage in hostile waters. They drift for days, watching the Irish coast grow closer through salt spray and exhaustion. When they finally wash ashore on the rocky beaches, they expect interrogation or imprisonment. Instead, local fishermen pull them from the waves and carry them to warm kitchens where women wrap them in blankets and feed them hot soup. These survivors represent different nations locked in brutal warfare, yet their rescuers ask no questions about uniforms or allegiances. The villagers simply see men who need help. As the rescued sailors recover in Irish homes, they must reconcile their gratitude with their duty to return to a war that has temporarily released its grip on them. McShane explores how ordinary compassion transcends the machinery of conflict when neighbors choose humanity over politics.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, war, adventure
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Atlantic Ocean, Ireland
Period: 20th-century
354 pages · Paperback · Mercier Press
Content warnings: war