Philip Marsden

In The Summer Isles, Philip Marsden casts off from shore to sail single-handed up the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland. In a wooden sloop, he encounters Atlantic storm-swells and relentless wind. Through the people he meets and the tales he uncovers, he explores the perennial wonders of this remote western seaboard. But The Summer Isles is also an exploration of the less tangible aspects of these coasts. “A tiny split had opened in the fabric of the world, and I found myself eagerly passing through it,” he writes, bringing to life the imaginary islands and the Celtic otherworld through the redemptive power of the imagination. Philip, an award-winning author of many remarkable works of travel, history and fiction, lives in Cornwall on the upper reaches of the River Fal with his family and a number of boats.