*LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025* *WINNDER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2025* *SHORTLISTED FOR
THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE 2026* 'A huge talent' HILARY MANTEL 'A magnificent
writer' DOUGLAS STUART 'One of the finest novelists of his generation' THE TIMES Thomas
lives a slow deliberate life with his mother in Longferry working his grandpa's trade as a
shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey gloomy beach to scrape for
shrimp spending the rest of the day selling his wares trying to wash away the salt and scum
pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart he is a
folk musician but it remains a private dream. When a striking visitor turns up bringing the
promise of Hollywood glamour Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see
a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true and how far can his
inspiration carry Thomas? Haunting and timeless this is the story of a young man hemmed in by
his circumstances striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows. *** MORE
PRAISE FOR SEASCRAPER: 'A book about dreams an exploration of class and family a
celebration of the power and the glory of music a challenge to the limits of realism and -
stunningly - a love story' BOOKER PRIZE 2025 JUDGES 'It's a senuous treat this novel . . . A
language of the sea washes over every page' ROSS RAISIN 'A tale so richly atmospheric you can
almost taste the tang of brine and inhale the sea fog . . . [Wood] transforms the quotidian
into the poetic making the exactitude of each task sing on the page' GUARDIAN 'Wood is up
there with the very best. He packs more poetry into his opening paragraph than many a
Booker-winner achieves in their entire oeuvre' JOHANNA THOMAS-CORR THE TIMES ' Seascraper
shimmers salt-flecked and rippling' SPECTATOR
