The Draw of the Sea [Hardcover]

Wyl Menmuir’sThe Draw of theSea is a beautifully written and deeply moving portrait of the Cornish Coast and the people who make their livings there, examining the ephemeral but universal pull the sea holds over the human imagination.

‘A beautiful portrait of lives shaped by the swell of ocean and tide - a powerful salt-thread of connection’- Raynor Winn, author ofThe Salt Path

Since the earliest stages of human development,the sea has fascinated and entranced us. It feeds us,sustaining communitiesand providing livelihoods, but it also holdsimmense destructive powerwhich can take all those away in an instant.
 
It connects us to far away places, offering thepromise of new landsand voyages of discovery, but alsoshapes our borders, carving divisions between landmasses anderoding the very ground beneath our feet.

In thisbeautifully-written meditationon what it is that draws us to the waters' edge, author Wyl Menmuir tells the stories of thepeople whose lives revolve around the sea in the Cornish communitywhere he lives.

In twelve interlinked chapters, Menmuir explores the lives oflocal fishermen steeped in the rich traditionsof a fishing community, the beachcombers who wander the shores in search of the varied objects which wash ashore and the stories they tell, and all number of others who have made their lives on thebeautiful Cornwall coast. 

In the specifics of these livelihoods and their rich histories and traditions, Wyl Menmuir captures the universal human connection to the sea. Into this seductive tapestry, Wyl weaves the story ofhow the sea has beckoned, consoled and restored him.

This book is a meaningful and moving work intohow we interact with the environmentaround us, and how it comes toshape the course of our lilÃ7