The Turning Tide

Quotes

‘Fascinating, spellbinding, erudite and great fun.’ ‘Remarkable. Lively … Gower writes beautifully [and] the book is profoundly popular.’ ‘An enjoyable trawl through the miscellaneous histories of the communities that have passed through the Irish Sea from deep time until now. … Enjoyably idiosyncratic. … A welcome and wandering reminder of the sea beyond our door.’ ‘The book equivalent of being hosted by a travelling storyteller around a fire.’ ‘As full of life and vitality as the sea itself.’ ‘The Irish Sea has found her bard. This is a dazzle of storytelling, an enthralling trove of history and a joyful work of travel and reportage, singing with the love of the sea.' ‘A beautifully absorbing read encompassing aeons of human and natural histories. What a remarkable, generous, compendious achievement.' ‘Contagious with delight and fascination. The seeming informality, the twinkle-in-the-eye in the telling, the gentle provocation make it a joy to read. Jon's perhaps brought into a being a new class of book, for it's nothing if not a “Racontography.”’ ‘In prose as glittering as the ocean itself, Gower unearths the saints and smugglers, the birds and bards that have inhabited this salty kingdom. In , the Irish Sea roars with a unique passion and character.’ ‘An elegant, engrossing portrait of the turbulent Irish Sea. Bursting with detailed natural history and stories of conquest, love, tragedy, and poetry alike, and so teeming with life, you can’t stop reading.’ 'A master storyteller, Gower takes us to his hinterland with the excitement of a rockpool explorer … A stunning object.' 'A book full of sounds and sensations … Entertaining.' ‘Riveting.’