Making Shore is a hugely accomplished debut novel from a small Scottish publisher. It's beautifully written with incredibly well-drawn characters who you really care about and you can even hear and smell the sights and sounds of wartime Atlantic. You feel the desperation but also the incredible determination and heroism of 19 year old merchant seaman Brian Clarke. This unforgettable and gripping novel takes its inspiration from reminiscences of merchant seaman Brian Clarke. A survivor of the Sithonia sinking, Brian, 86, was keen to highlight the great risks taken by Merchant Navy sailors to support the military war effort and keep supply lines open across the vast expanse of the Atlantic. Being based on a true event from the second World War this book is a port hole through which you can view a crucial part of WWII.
"Brian is an old family friend and though I had always been aware that he had survived a terrible ordeal during the war, I had no idea of its extraordinarily rich potential as the basis for a novel," explained Sara Allerton.
"In consequence, we had many long and detailed conversations about his experiences and in writing Making Shore, I tried to capture the essence of Brian’s story and weave together its horrors with the emotional drama it inspired in me.”
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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Nineteen-year-old merchant seaman Brian Clarke is sure the U-boats will never hit home; he won't be the one to die. But when his ship is torpedoed in the middle of the Atlantic, he quickly learns the meaning of fear. Adrift in a lifeboat with precious little to sustain the survivors, the odds of making shore gradually lengthen. Under an unrelenting sun, slowly dying of thirst, he watches in horror as his shipmates begin to abandon hope and turn to in-fighting. Except for Joe. In refusing to renounce integrity and compassion, he keeps faith with their humanity, helping Brian through an endurance test of near-impossible proportions. And in return, Brian finds himself duty-bound to honour a promise when he returns. Based on a true incident in World War II.
Merchant Navy sailor and SS Sithonia survivor Brian Clarke
Making Shore features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Debut Books of the Month, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations, General Fiction
Making Shore is available in Ebook, Paperback
Making Shore was written by Sara Allerton and published by Saraband (Scotland) Ltd
Making Shore has 268 pages
£8.99
