Only the Ocean
Published on 8. August 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-4088-6861-4 (ISBN)
Description
Breath-takingly fierce, smart and tender, Only the Ocean is a story of survival and courage in the midst of darkness that will thrill fans of Patrick Ness and Sarah Crossan.
The two girls sat at opposite ends of the boat and Kel dug and stretched the oars into the ocean like her life depended upon it because it did.
'Just so you know,' said Rose, 'everything, and I mean everything, is your fault.'
Kel Crow lives in a dead-end swamp with her deadbeat family and a damaged heart. But she has a plan to escape. It's a one-two-three fortune story that goes: stow away on the ship, kidnap the girl, swap the girl to pay for passage to America and a life-saving operation.
But the ocean is an untameable force, and wrecks ships and plans alike ...
Sweet, raw and uncompromising - this is the story of an unforgettable relationship forged on an epic journey.
The two girls sat at opposite ends of the boat and Kel dug and stretched the oars into the ocean like her life depended upon it because it did.
'Just so you know,' said Rose, 'everything, and I mean everything, is your fault.'
Kel Crow lives in a dead-end swamp with her deadbeat family and a damaged heart. But she has a plan to escape. It's a one-two-three fortune story that goes: stow away on the ship, kidnap the girl, swap the girl to pay for passage to America and a life-saving operation.
But the ocean is an untameable force, and wrecks ships and plans alike ...
Sweet, raw and uncompromising - this is the story of an unforgettable relationship forged on an epic journey.
Reviews / Votes
I was absolutely cheering on Kel and Rose by the end of their stormy salt water odyssey! Wonderful, mesmerising, immersive story telling * Hilary McKay, author of The Skylarks' War * I loved Only the Ocean. It's about a girl who is trying to escape from a dreadful life and an entire deck of cards stacked against her. It's about a girl whose idea of escape and what it could look like has been severely limited by that dreadful life. It's about a dawning sexuality overcoming past trauma and it's about the new, hitherto unimagined, escape routes that love can bring. This all comes wrapped up in Carthew's singular and poetic style, awareness of nature and use of dialect. I thought it was wild and raw and truly, truly beautiful. * Jill Murphy, The Bookbag * Steering clear of well-worn cliches, Carthew's stories cut to the heart of human experience, often portraying and championing life's underdogs and outsiders. What a thrilling, thought-provoking novel this is, brimming with perilous encounters, and the rawness of real-life relationships * LoveReading4Kids * An intriguing LGBTQ story about survival and fortitude, with a fierce protagonist at its heart * Culturefly * A heart-rending quest story about children in a bitterly cold, climate-changed Cornwall, searching for the everyday comforts and love of the world so recently lost * Independent - Praise for WINTER DAMAGE * Gripping stuff, Carthew's prose has a startling ferocity * The Telegraph Best Books of 2015 - Praise for THE LIGHT THAT GETS LOST * A vivid, imagistic language * Financial Times - Praise for THE LIGHT THAT GETS LOST *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 7 years
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
190 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4088-6861-4 (9781408868614)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Carthew is a working-class country writer from Cornwall, where she lives with her girlfriend. She has written all her books outside, either in the fields and woodland that surround her home or in the cabin that she built from scrap wood. She has written two books of poetry, as well as three novels for young adults, Winter Damage, The Light That Gets Lost and Only the Ocean, all for Bloomsbury. Her first novel for adults, All Rivers Run Free, is published by riverrun/ Quercus. Natasha has written for many publications on the subject of wild writing, including the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, Eco-fiction, TripFiction, the Guardian, the Big Issue and the Dark Mountain Project. Shes currently writing her second literary novel for adults and a new collection of rural poetry.