Still Life on Sand

To an artist's eye, the receding sea level the boats in the harbor looking like abandoned water toys after the bath has been drained. Living in the harbour community of St Ives, sculptor Esme Cochran has watched both her sons fall in love with that sea-Hugo with the surfing and Crispin with the fishing. But here, in the company of the tides, the mists and the extraordinary local light, other love affairs are also begun.

Affairs that divide husband from wife and artist from canvas take place alongside budding youthful romances, whilst one old sailor, Percy Prynne, is haunted by the tragic echoes of the past and watches over Esme's own growing turmoil with uncanny foreknowledge.

 Book by Hayes, Karen