First published 2019
Sixteen-year-old Robert Appleyard walks out of his Durham mining village one summer after World War II, seeking something beyond the grim future mapped out for him. Trudging across the rugged northern countryside, he arrives in Robin Hood's Bay and encounters Dulcie, an eccentric older woman living alone in a weathered cottage facing the North Sea. She introduces him to a world far beyond his narrow upbringing—poetry, rich meals, sea-swimming, and radical perspectives on life and art. But Robert's exploration isn't just a pastoral escape: his emerging friendship with Dulcie challenges everything he knows about possibility, class, and personal potential. As summer unfolds, their unlikely connection becomes a transformative experience that will reshape both their futures.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Durham, North Sea, Robin Hood's Bay
Period: Post-World War II
272 pages · Paperback · Third Man Books