And then, just like that, a thought bubbles inside me. It's a beginning; a new beginning; my beginning. The beginning of the story I tell myself in order to survive.
We choose to breathe, don't we?
Twenty-one-year-old Olivia hears the world in colour, but her life is mottled grey. Estranged from her parents, and living with her grandfather who is drowning in sadness, Oli faces the reality of life beyond university alone.
When she wakes on a boat with no recollection of how she got there, she accepts the help of two strangers who change the course of her future forever. With Mac and Maggie, Oli learns to navigate a life upon open ocean and the world flowers into colours she's never seen before.
Four years later, Oli, fluent in the language of the sea, is the only woman among men on a yacht delivery from Noumea to Auckland. In the darkness below deck, she learns that at sea, no one can hear you scream.
Moving to London, Oli's life at sea is buried. When she meets Hugo, the wind changes, and her memories are dust blown into shapes. Reminding her of everything.
Below Deck is about the moments that haunt us, the moments that fan out like ripples through the deep. So that everything else, becomes everything after.
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Wow. Sophie Hardcastle’s latest establishment rides the horizon separating captivating prose and political relevance. It is the written equivalent of a group hug with a united front of womxn. This book is exactly what the world needs.
Twenty-one year old Oli, accompanied only by her colour synaesthesia and newly learned boating skills, journeys across oceans and platforms. Along the way she meets people who feel like home, and people who will oversee her nightmares for years to come.
“Below Deck” is a love story between a woman and her surrounding world. Three parts, each jumping four years further into Oli’s adulthood, prove the stages that come with not only growing up, but growing into the power you have the potential for, despite the attempted drownings.
Because: we choose to breathe, don’t we?
Sophie’s writing is pure poetry, each word rich with layers of feeling. You either write what you know or what you love, and she does both. No wonder each lyric is laced with magic. Her talent is unmatched, and empowers. She will have you shouting, “here I am! I am here!”
“Below Deck” is the book of 2020. - Hannah (QBD)
Guest, 08/03/2020
