As you settle in for some seaside relaxation, switch off the laptop and grab a good book to read – here are some of our coastal-themed favourites, selected by CAROLINE WHEATER
COASTAL CLASSIC
REBECCA
BY DAPHNE DU MAURIER
two films made of Rebecca (1940 and 2020) are captivating, but for a journey of the imagination nothing beats reading Daphne du Maurier’s compelling tale of passion and intrigue set on the Cornish coast. The author fell in love with Cornwall in childhood, when her family bought Ferryside, a holiday home near Fowey. Later in life she lived on the Menabilly estate, the coastal property thought to have inspired Manderley, the fictional mansion where Rebecca is set. The novel is peopled by enigmatic characters such as owner Maxim de Winter, his young, unnamed wife (the narrator), and their shadowy housekeeper, Mrs Danvers. Du Maurier likes to go to the dark side and her story’s psychological twists and turns have ensured that Rebecca has never been out of print since publication in 1938. (£8.99, Virago Modern Classics)
SOULFUL SELECTION
POEMS OF THE SEA EDITED
A well-chosen anthology of poems is a delicious source of literary solace that can be easily put down for a cooling swim or to buy an ice cream. This new selection is chosen by Gaby Morgan, a publisher at Macmillan Children’s Books, and includes some of the biggest names in poetry down the centuries. Sea Fever by John Masefield sets the tone with its heartfelt feeling and masterful rhyme, and is followed by beautiful poems by Tennyson, Wordsworth, Walt Whitman, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson and many more fine wordsmiths. For lovers of nonsense, the final section features Edward Lear’s The Jumblies, who “....went to sea in a Sieve, they did, in a Sieve they went to sea...”. An index of first lines helps find the poems that lie dormant in our memories, waiting for rediscovery. (£10.99, Macmillan Collector’s Library)
ISLAND ADVENTURE
THE SUMMER SKIES
Award-winning novelist Jenny Colgan has a track record of creating witty romances, written at her home on the Fife coast. In Jenny’s latest novel, the main character is pilot Morag who returns to the tranquil Scottish Highlands to look after her beloved grandfather after he falls ill. Morag takes over running his business of flying locals around the islands but as stormy weather descends she’s forced to cra
