Things We Lose in Waves (Paperback) - Lucy Ayrton

A story of a family pushed to the breaking point, set against the backdrop of a landscape ravaged by the storms, and a town slowly falling into the sea.

'Brilliant' DAILY MAIL

'Moving . . . the characters are so vivid and memorable, I couldn't stop thinking of them' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'An elegant, assured novel about family, friendships, secrets and the push-pull of home' PRISCILLA MORRIS

Jenny's world is falling apart.

Ravenspurn is falling into the sea. The little town is perched on a remote cliff, and every day, frequent storms are claiming more land, more homes and more livelihoods.

The news of her father's sudden death forces Jenny's return to her hometown from London, but the ravaged landscape now feels like a foreign place. In a small town like Ravenspurn, the rifts between her and those she once knew are so deep they threaten to swallow her whole.

Jenny is now responsible for her late father's small pub, and its staff, Alex and Si - her former best friend and ex-boyfriend, now a couple. She's stuck living in her childhood bedroom, orbiting awkwardly around her distant mother. Her boyfriend is still in London, separated by more than just distance. Each day that Jenny remains, the town seems to shrink around her, but she knows soon the pandemic will be over. Soon, she'll be able to return to her real life.

But the secrets and the unspoken regrets that have come to haunt Jenny are not so easily escaped. In the claustrophobia of Ravenspurn, where can she turn?

A timely story of a home pushed to the breaking point; Things We Lose in Waves explores how you keep afloat when your world is falling away from underneath your feet.

'Filled with complex characters and exquisite writing' LOUISE HARE

'Emotionally rich . . . this is a beautiful, atmospheric work' ELIZABETH MCKENZIE

'A writer to watch' LAURIE PETROU

About the Author

Lucy Ayrton has an MA in Creative Writing from Warwick University, and is a novelist and performance poet. Her debut novel, One More Chance, the story of a young mother battling imprisonment and addiction, was published in 2018 with Dialogue Books and was a finalist in the Exeter Novel Award. She wrote and performed two full-length spoken word shows at the Edinburgh Festival, which were respectively turned into a poetry pamphlet and a radio play. She also competed as a national finalist at the UK Poetry Slam. Lucy currently teaches Creative Writing at Oxford University.