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Dark, Salt, Clear
- Life in a Cornish Fishing Town
- Narrated by: Lamorna Ash
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
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Dark, Salt, Clear
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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.
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)
What listeners say about Dark, Salt, Clear
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 24-05-20
Beautiful
Beautiful, poetic and fascinating ✨ Definitely going to listen to it again one day!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- David Filce
- 07-06-21
Fascinating Insight
Listening to this book you can almost taste the saltiness of the sea while you sit on the harbour wall or ride the ocean waves. You feel part of the community of Newlyn, almost as if its home.
A wonderfully told story of hardworking folk at the end of the line
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tim frank
- 30-03-24
Outstandingly evocative and insightful
This book will become a classic representation of a time and place. A time that is already changed and a place that is evolving in from when Lamorna was there. It is a remarkable piece from one so young and well deserves the accolades.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- imw
- 07-10-20
Beautiful book that I grew to love
For the first half of the book I was a little unconvinced. The author seems very young, and to begin with it reads almost like an account of a gap year - the excitement and naivity of a young person making their first foray on their own. But as the author / narrator learns more about the place and the people, she develops a more mature perspective and her wonderful insightful commentary is captivating. Towards the end I was hooked and enjoyed it immensely. It is a unique and very honest story with a very elegant narrative about the people of Newlyn.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- A. noniemus
- 03-05-20
A joy from begining to end
Lamorna has written a gem. The Newlyn fishing community brought to life for us. Lives we may have only glimpsed on holiday, eating chips on a harbour wall, portrayed with a joy of the subject and will real affection. Tales of life, of fish guts in her hair, nuggets of amber and leopard seal pups. It will lift your spirits and I didn't want it to end. Great stuff!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kizzia Mildmay
- 31-01-23
Immersive and mesmerising
Like the sea this book defies categorisation and is deeply bewitching. Nature writing, travel memoir, history, politics, slice of life … this work is packed so full of interest. In other hands I think this could have been an exhausting read, as imparted so much information, but Lamorna wove each thread together so skilfully and lightly that it felt as easy as floating. I listened to the audiobook version of this and felt that having the narration done by Lamorna herself added another subtle layer to the work. I came away with a new understanding of the fishing industry, Cornwall, and what good writing can be and do. Cannot recommend this highly enough.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- scottg
- 24-09-20
Unique and beautiful
Beautifully written and read, one of the best books that I've had the pleasure to immerse myself within.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Philip
- 22-10-21
No longer pescatarian
The author, named after the Cornish town of her birth, heads home from her posh-girl life in London to find out about life at the sharp-end of trawling, and what it’s like for the guys who trawl. It’s part student diary, part slightly-troubled-girl trying to find herself. But her time she out on the trawlers with the real Cornish fishermen, the hours of gutting live fish and seasickness, are a gritty insight into tough reality of a not-at-all romantic, hand-to-mouth and probably not sustainable lifestyle.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- lovesgiddyjoys
- 29-04-22
what a journey
Great story i felt like I was there on the boat with her . interesting from start to finish great narration too her voice is intoxicating
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- Laura Steven
- 29-11-20
Not bad, but not very interesting.
I bought this intentionally to listen to in the car on route to/from Cornwall, so began with an open and optimistic view of what it might offer. My husband and I listened to the end (nearly 11 hours) but for the most part, we found its naive perspectives and prose like listening to the diary of a well-meaning teenager.... Maybe we're just too old for it!
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2 people found this helpful