The Offing by Benjamin Myers

‘What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness ... ’ - Max Porter

One summer following the Second World War, Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham village. Sixteen and the son of a coal miner, he makes his way across the northern countryside until he reaches the former smuggling village of Robin Hood’s Bay. There he meets Dulcie, an eccentric, worldly, older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage facing out to sea. The two come from different worlds, yet as the summer months pass, they form an unlikely friendship that will profoundly alter their futures.