Across the Silent Sea

By (author) Gabrielle Barnby

‘I wasn’t all in one piece last autumn. My jaw was broken and my teeth were knocked loose like peppermints, they rested on my tongue in a liquid of iron and salt.’

Esther’s dreams of a glamorous life in London are shattered when she has a serious accident which leaves her with life-changing injuries. Living in her childhood home in Orkney, she retreats into a silent world until Marcus, a musician down on his luck, comes to stay on the island and reaches out to her through his music.

Described in rich, subtle detail—town, land and sea—in sharply observed and lyrical excitement, Esther’s inner voice—tough, desperate, cutting, hilariously sarcastic, witheringly dry, suddenly tender—explores what it means to have one’s dreams shattered and the impact that facial scarring has on identity.