The Draw of the Sea - by Wyl Menmuir (Paperback)

About the Book

Wyl Menmuir's The Draw of the Sea is a book about the fisherman, surfers, swimmers, beachcombers, conservationists, sailors and boatbuilders who make their living on the Cornish Coast.
The Draw of the Sea will evoke both the specific and the universal appeal of the sea in the same way that James Rebanks evoked both the specific and the universal in The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District.

Book Synopsis

WINNER OF THE HOLYER AN GO AWARD 2023

Wyl Menmuir's The Draw of the Sea is a beautifully written and deeply moving portrait of the sea and the people whose livelihoods revolve around it, examining the ephemeral but universal pull the sea holds over the human imagination.

Since the earliest stages of human development, the sea has fascinated and entranced us. It feeds us, sustaining communities and providing livelihood, but it also holds immense destructive power that threatens to destroy all we have created.

It connects us to faraway places, offering the promise of new lands and voyages of discovery, but also shapes our borders, carving divisions between landmasses and eroding the very ground beneath our feet.

In this lyrical meditation on what it is that draws us to the waters' edge, author Wyl Menmuir tells the stories of the people whose lives revolve around the coastline and all it has to offer.

In twelve interlinked chapters, Menmuir explores the lives of local fishermen steeped in the rich traditions of a fishing community, the beachcombers who wander the shores in search of the varied objects that wash ashore and the stories they tell, and all number of others who have made their lives around the sea.

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

The Draw of the Sea is a meaningful and moving work into how we interact with the environment around us and how it comes to shape the course of our lives. As unmissable as it is compelling, as profound as it is personal, this must-read book will delight anyone familiar with the intimate and powerful pull which the sea holds over us.

Review Quotes

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

'Sometimes a book comes along that could have been written just for you. This is how I feel about The Draw of The Sea by Wyl Menmuir, a work of enormous grace and humanity that pulls us to the deep and gently returns us home' Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters

'Beautiful, intriguing, salt-tanged, this wonderful book has the power to transport us to the ocean. If you can't get to the sea, Wyl's book is the next best thing.'
Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Dear Reader and The Last Act of Love

'The Draw of the Sea is immersive and inviting and filled with people who for all sorts of reasons go to the sea, and reading it will make you want to go with them. Menmuir weaves together thoughtful portraits of people he's spent time with, the shell seekers and wave riders, swimmers, sailors, fishers and divers. He brilliantly captures the rich mix of feelings that come with being by, on and under the sea. My own love of the sea, and the Cornish coast in particular, is deepened by seeing it through the eyes of so many others.'
Helen Scales, author of The Brilliant Abyss and What a Shell Can Tell

'The Draw of the Sea is a richly satisfying book. Wyl Menmuir dives deep into a world of sea-souls - swimmers and surfers and sailors, birders, beachcombers and rowers - and with meditative charm addresses that perennial, unanswerable question: what makes us so oblivious to danger and discomfort and pulls us again and again to the water?'
Philip Marsden, author of The Summer Isles and Rising Ground
'There is a stillness, a patience and a clear kind of beauty to every sentence Wyl Menmuir writes. To read The Draw of the Sea is not unlike staring out at the water for some time; it works upon you gradually, leaving you, at last, with a feeling of reverence and awe at all you have witnessed.' Lamorna Ash, author of Dark, Salt, Clear

'The Draw of the Sea is as mesmeric, visceral, and compelling as the ocean itself. A curious, sensitive, and unfailingly generous guide, Menmuir writes thrillingly about the remarkable denizens who make their living or seek their comfort by shore, the evolutionary ingenuity of ancient sea-creatures, and the aching vulnerability of the human soul on the cusp of vast upheaval. Diving deep into a largely unknown territory as ancient as Deep Time itself, he emerges with stories of grief and mermaids, of ghost-plastic and hard-won wisdom, of harpoons and treasure and longing and precarity and the eternal quest for meaning: gifts that evoke both the richness and the strangeness of a precious world within a precious world. Menmuir's evocation of our love-affair with the sea is a sublime work that stands as both a masterpiece of nature writing and a fearless exploration of the collective psyche contemplating its relationship with the Earth.' Liz Jensen

'A compressed rectangle of pure sea.' Adam Farrer, author of Cold Fish Soup 'A beautiful, wise and charming book.' Charlie Carroll, author of The Lip 'Roger Deakin would have been proud to have written it himself. Brava. It's a masterpiece.' Liz Jensen 'Menmuir's novels are full of beautiful language and this, too, is a book that sings.' Alex Preston, The Guardian
'Light and wonder illuminate the pages of this magical book, a fitting tribute to the majesty and mystery of the sea.' Alex Preston, The Guardian 'The best compliment I can pay The Draw of the Sea is that the moment I finished it I signed up for lessons with the local sailing club.' Andrew Watts, The Spectator
'The charm of the book is that you share in the thrill.' Andrew Watts, The Spectator 'Much more interesting than simply another bound-beating book about Cornwall. In Wyl's adventures... he meets conservationists, surfboard designers, modern day mermaids and record-breaking freedivers.' Luke Thompson, Caught by The River 'It is impossible to read this book and not long for the sea.' Bec Evans, author of How to Have a Happy Hustle and Written. 'If you have the slightest interest in the sea then I can highly recommend this.' Paul Cheney, Halfman, Halfbook 'Drips with a gentle authenticity that makes it a joy to read.' David Harris, Blue Book Balloon

About the Author

Wyl Menmuir is a novelist, editor and literary consultant based in Cornwall. He is the author of the Man-Booker nominated novel and Observer Best Fiction of the year pick, The Many, and Fox Fires. His short fiction has appeared in Best British Short Stories and he has been published by Nightjar Press, Kneehigh Theatre and the National Trust.

​He has written for Radio 4's Open Book, The Guardian and The Observer, and is a regular contributor to the journal Elementum.

​Born in Stockport in 1979, Wyl now lives in Cornwall with his wife and two children. He is co-creator of the Cornish writing centre, The Writers' Block, and works with Arvon Foundation, National Literacy Trust and Centre for Literacy in Primary Education on national literacy programmes, as well as lecturer in creative writing at Falmouth University.

​When he is not writing or teaching writing, Wyl enjoys messing around in boats.