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Sea Defences Synopsis
Rachel, a trainee vicar struggling to bond with her flock in the coastal town of Holthorpe, learns the terrifying power of the North Sea when her six-year-old daughter goes missing on the beach. Meanwhile Mary, a defiant and distrustful loner, is fighting her own battle against nature as the crumbling Norfolk shoreline brings her clifftop home ever closer to destruction. Both scarred by life, the two women are drawn into an unlikely friendship, but Mary's misfit son Adam is nursing a secret.
For Rachel, it will subject her battered faith to its greatest test: will she be strong enough to forgive? In her taut, lyrical debut novel, Hilary Taylor weaves the bleak power of the East Anglian winter into a searingly honest psychological drama, as gripping as any thriller.
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Press Reviews
Hilary Taylor Press Reviews
'Poetry in prose. Written with warmth and wit, this astutely observed study in grief is balanced by an exploration of faith, friendship and love' - Fiona Erskine
'A heartbreaking exploration of grief and faith, with undercurrents of unease and intrigue, this is a tender, poignant and compassionate literary thriller' - Philippa East
'Utterly engrossing and atmospheric, Sea Defences is an extraordinarily accomplished debut novel with its bare but beguiling prose and poignant exploration of loss. I loved it!'- Jane Jesmond
'A stunning debut: evocative descriptions, strong characterisation and a simmering tension which builds to a thrilling finale. Fans of Broadchurch, in particular, will love this book.' - Sarah Linley, Author of The Trip and The Wedding Murders.
Author
About Hilary Taylor
Hilary Taylor is a graduate of Edinburgh University and lives in Suffolk, where she taught for almost twenty years. She has five grown-up children and, at the last count, eight grandchildren. Her short fiction has been published in magazines and anthologies and she was the winner of the Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction in 2022. Sea Defences, her first novel, began life as a prize-winning short story, placed third in the Bath Short Story Award.
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