Sea Creatures

Val Harris

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Why I wrote this book

I wrote this book simply because the idea had taken shape in my head. Sea Creatures is my third novel, and was the most challenging to write because of some of the issues it explores. I happened to be in Cornwall, in Talland, when the idea for the plot began to develop and set it there. I have loved Cornwall since I was a child, reading books about it, making it a holiday destination for my own family since the nineteen seventies – adoring the moody wildness of its coastline. I also happened to be reading ‘Moment’s of Being’ by Virginia Woolf, who lived in Talland House in St Ives. You could say that it was her quote, which I refer to at the beginning of the book, that inspired Sea Creatures, but perhaps it was more the catalyst that spurred the story on.

As the plot began to develop, London also became an important setting too. Place is quite important for me when I write. Setting a novel in a familiar setting, helps me to know where I am. My previous novel, The Siren, was set on the Amalfi Coast, and my next novel is set in East Africa. I also like intrigue and try to add a bit of a shock factor to all my novels.

Sea Creatures has a central theme focusing on the effects of the disappearance of a parent on a young family at the time of that disappearance, and the subsequent underlying and imbedded effects as they grow into adulthood. Like most families, the children could not be more different. Charlie, the middle child with an older and younger sister is, I think, a lovable character but with a sinister occupation. Jenna, the eldest sister, who has stayed in her beloved Cornwall (and who narrates the first part of the book in the first person), is the link between them all and the one who tries the hardest to hold the threads of her family together. Olivia, who was never a Cornish girl at heart, leaves the family home at the first opportunity for the bright lights of London and a career in publishing. But her snooty and frosty veneer covers a vulnerable interior. Running parallel with their lives is an artistic and hedonistic father, plus some secrets revealed and a whole host of underlying issues including adultery, drugs, a terminal illness and that little injection of intrigue. I really took those characters to heart, and loved spending time with my imaginary, dysfunctional family.

A parent disappearing is not something I’ve experienced myself, but I have been close to someone who has, so I was able to glean some firsthand facts as well as draw on general research about this subject which is another part of writing that I find hugely interesting. The cover for the book is very special for me. It was a commissioned painting by David Axtell, a Cornish artist, who cleverly captured my description of the scene I envisaged.

Synopsis

A young family struggle to come to terms with the sudden disappearance of their mother from their home on the Cornish coast.

Twenty-two years later the estranged Moon family, siblings Jenna, Charlie and Olivia, along with their father Brendan, are united again as a result of some startling news. The mysteries of the past begin to unravel and reveal challenging and uncertain futures for them all. Sea Creatures moves between Cornwall and London, the past and the present, and explores the lasting effects of the disappearance of a parent. Brendan, a professional artist, who lapsed into bouts of depression and drinking and largely ignored the needs of his children, must face the consequences of his actions.

Olivia, a successful editor in a major publishing house in London is soon to learn the truth about her marriage. Charlie awaits trial for a serious drug offence and Jenna, the eldest, the one who holds the threads of her family together, finds herself facing the possibility of losing everything she regards as precious in her life.

Reviews

Intrigue in a story of the sea and the Moons. The library in Farnham was packed for the launch of Sea Creatures, which takes the reader back and forth between Cornwall and London and follows the lives of three children and the people around them. The charming front cover, taken from an original oil painting, depicts the Moon family on a Cornish beach below their old cottage, not far from Looe. It is this charming picture which draws you into the lives of the family idyll, suddenly shattered when mother Rowena Moon inexplicably disappears. Twenty-two years later the siblings and their father are reunited by some earth shattering news that impinges on their lives both psychologically and physically, but brings with it the various twists and turns urging this compelling novel to its poignant conclusion. Sea Creatures is yet another of author Val Harris’ intriguing stories. The Farnham Herald November 2009

I couldn’t put it down. This book has so many intriguing aspects to it that I couldn’t wait to read what was going to happen next. But the prevailing theme, the disappearance of a parent, weaves so well amongst the lives that were touched by this devastating event and the issues it leaves them with. Charlie the middle child is a lovable character with a sinister occupation. Jenna is the rock that holds them all steady but is in danger of developing cracks. Her sister Olivia could so easily have taken them all apart, so concerned was she with her own survival. As for their father, he is reaping the consequences of his sowing. The author has written a book that is compelling to read, and leaves you, on the last page, with a sense that there will be something missing in your life for some while.

All you can want from a book: in depth characters, intriguing storyline, beautiful description of a wild and moody Cornish location and good insight into London life. Sea Creatures is a page-turner and a jolly good read.

About the Author

Author Val Harris, lives near Farnham in Surrey, an area where she has lived and worked for more than twenty years. She has been a TESOL teacher, worked in cross-cultural training, lead vocalist with a rock band and run her own business services company. Val loves to travel and is inspired by a sense of place. She has published three books: Whisky ‘n’ Ginger in 2007, The Siren in 2008, and her third novel, Sea Creatures, was launched in November 2009.

Sea Creatures was recently selected by the Exclusively Independent panel to join the best of the independently published books with independent bookshops across the UK, and libraries in London.

Val also writes poetry. She won first prize in the Writers Forum Magazine for her poem, Olympia, and has had other poems and short stories published. She is a member of the Society of Authors. Val’s books are published by Gingercat Books - Independent Publishers and their new fiction imprint, Cava Books.

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