The Seas by Samantha Hunt
The narrator of The Seas lives in a tiny, remote, alcoholic, cruel seaside town. An occasional chambermaid, granddaughter to a typesetter, and daughter to a dead man, awkward and brave, wayward and willful, she is in love (unrequited) with an Iraq War veteran thirteen years her senior. She is convinced that she is a mermaid. What she does to ease the pain of growing up lands her in prison. What she does to get out is the stuff of legend. In the words of writer Michelle Tea, The Seas is creepy and poetic, subversive and strangely funny, [and] a phenomenal piece of literature.
Praise for The Invention of Everything Else:
'A beguiling mix of love, death, pigeons and time travel...a gem of a story about the power of imagination' Marie Claire
'Samantha Hunt is an exciting find - a fresh original voice...a fantastical love story...literary gold... It should appeal to fans of The Time Traveller's Wife and Donna Tartt' Sunday Express
'Intelligent, compassionate...beautifully conjured' Daily Telegraph