RaveFinancial Times (UK)Part coming-of-age memoir, part anthropological study, Dark, Salt, Clear glistens with deftly told snippets and character-rich stories: about the habits of fish and the art of catching them; about the bifurcating life of sea and shore; about \'salt-licked winds\' and squawking seabirds; and, perhaps most poignantly, about Lamorna Ash herself, the \'emmet\' or outsider, who so desperately desires to belong ... When she turns to issues such as quota revisions or Brexit (which has near-universal support in fishing communities), Ash does so not in facts and figures but via the lived realities of the fishermen ... With graceful lyricism and endearing humility, Ash gives this rage both voice and face.
William Atkins
RaveThe Financial TimesWe live on a crowded planet. The once unexplored corners of the world are all mapped and measured. To travel nowadays is to see what others have seen, to step where others have stepped ... For some, this is a blessing. In an age of GPS and smartphones, we need never get lost. Swipe and we know where we are. Click and up comes the nearest burger joint. Yet for the intrepid travel writer, this is a problem. Where on earth to go? ... In this rich and refreshing travelogue, William Atkins finds an answer: the desert ... Atkins’ ability to eke out close to 400 pages on the subject is testament both to his skill as a writer — sharp, sympathetic, endlessly informative — and the surprising abundance of his chosen topic. The desert is neither mausoleum nor museum, but rather a complex, living ecosystem.
