Allie Morgan – Writer & Cancer Survivor

I have no idea what has happened this year.

Apart from the world apparently going completely mad, I’ve hardly read any books!

Five. That’s how bad. Just five. Shocking.

Anyway, I thought I’d do a review of one of them because, why not?

I was given Journey to the Sea by my auntie – and it took me a while to read!

I tend to read more novels than short stories because I like to get really involved with the story – I find it hard to pick short stories back up once I’ve put them down.

But after a good few weeks, I finally managed to finish this book!

What is it? 

It’s a book of short stories.

Journey to the Sea is a mixture of fiction and non fiction as well as poetry but each one has some connection to the sea.

Who wrote it?

Quite a few different people actually!

It was put together by Sarah Brown – wife of former prime minster, Gordon – and it was created to raise funds for PiggyBankKids – now TheirWorld.

TheirWorld is a charity which helps to give more opportunities to young people.

Good points

There were a few chapters that I really enjoyed!

The book opens with a poem by Andrew Motion called ‘Momento’ in which he recalls taking a pebble home from the beach.

It’s a really lovely nostalgic piece that I can definitely relate to as someone who has grown up near the sea.

I also got a little choked up by Joanna Harris’ story ‘Faith and Hope Fly South’, about two old women who miss out on their nursing home’s day trip to the beach.

It was incredibly moving and explores the relationship between the women and their care worker as well as putting a huge focus on the power of the mind.

I’d also recommend:

• ‘The Beach Butler’ by Ruth Rendell
• ‘Kyle’ by Gervase Phinn
• ‘Family Holiday’ by Mike Gayle
• ‘The Naiad’ by Sarah Whiteley

Less good points

Some of the stories were written by actual sailors and people who have done amazing, AMAZING things on boats.

But.

A sailor, I am not (although I did go sailing with the Ellen MacArthur Trust in 2009 & came back thinking I could single-handedly sail the seven seas!)

Anyway, that was a while ago & now, unfortunately, the technical lingo means nothing to me.

So when I was reading these more technical stories – although to someone else they would have made fantastic reading! – I got a bit lost & drifted off into my own world a few times.

I’ve a tendency to daydream a lot which didn’t help at all!

Verdict

4/5 – a really great read, especially if you love the sea! If you have any experience at sea, I think you’d be giving it 5 stars 🙂

And that’s it for this week – a short & snappy review for you!

Hope you’re all having a lovely summer 🙂

Allie x