Selected by Sarah Moss as a Book of the Year 2017 in The Big Issue Ten years old & irrepressibly curious Ellie lives with her fisherman father Peter on the wild North Yorkshire coast It's the 1980s & her mother's breakdown is discussed only in whispers with the promise better by Christmas' & no further explanation Steering by the light of her dad's sea-myths her mum's memories of home across the water & a fierce spirit all her own Ellie begins to learn
- in these sudden strange circumstances
- who she is & what she can become By the time the first snowdrops show her innocence has been shed but at great cost This vivacious & deeply moving novel portrays adult breakdown through the eyes of a brightly imaginative child sensitively explores questions of responsibility & care & above all celebrates the power of stories to shape nourish & even save us