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Seascraper is a mesmerising portrait of a young man confined by his class and the ghosts of his family's past, dreaming of artistic fulfilment. It confirms Benjamin Wood as an exceptional talent in British literature.
Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa's trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp; spending the rest of the day selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.
When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?
Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (2/26/2026)
I just started 'John' by Niall Williams. John the apostle isn't a topic I would normally choose but I'm putting my trust in Williams as I've loved his more recent books. I finished 'Seascraper' by Benjamin Wood. My favorite read of the year so far. Beautiful, evocative writing of the place and pr...
-Vicki_F
Booker Longlist announced!
...sai Audition by Katie Kitamura The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller Endling by Maria Reva Flesh by David Szalay Seascraper by Benjamin Wood Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga BookBrowse has reviewed four so far: https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/4965/universality Book...
-kim.kovacs
Nero Book Awards, 2026
"It is a sensuous treat, this novel. So much care has been given to every detail – of shrimps and sea mists and sinkpits, of work and music. A language of the sea washes over every page." —Ross Raisin, award-winning author of God's Own Country
"Seascraper is powerful, poignant and poetic. I can't recommend it enough." —Benjamin Myers, award-winning author of Cuddy
This information about Seascraper was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Benjamin Wood was born in 1981 and grew up in Merseyside. He is the author of four acclaimed novels.
The Bellwether Revivals (2012) was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won one of France's foremost literary awards, Le Prix du Roman Fnac. The Ecliptic (2015) was shortlisted for the Encore Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better (2018) was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award and the European Union Prize for Literature. The Young Accomplice (2022) was selected as one of the books of the year by The Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, The Spectator, The Irish Times, and others. A serialised version of the novel was broadcast as a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime.
His fifth novel, Seascraper , will be published by Viking Penguin in July 2025.
He is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at King's College London, where he teaches fiction modules and founded the PhD in Creative Writing programme. He lives in Surrey with his wife and sons.
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