The Last Good Man by Simon Petherick. Fiction, published November 2012.
Available from Amazon here.
A novel of mystery, passion, loss and longing set on a wild Cornish beach.
‘The novel speaks eloquently for itself…love, certainty, longing, regret, survival. The story features all that and more.’ Daily Mail
’A searing story of love, loneliness and tragedy…powerful plotline and stark imagery…descriptions are deeply evocative of the beautiful yet often savage coastal landscapes.’ Cornwall Today
A man has lived on his own beside the sea for many years. From a choice made long ago, he keeps himself separate from the world of people, and is completely at one with his environment. His solitude is broken by the discovery, one early morning on the flat sands of a low tide, of a child washed up on the beach. Somehow, she is still alive.
‘Clearly has an intimate knowledge and love of the Cornish coastline and its unique type of village community, which feature so vividly in this charming and surreal tale of human misfits…a keen eye for descriptive detail and a talent for emotional understatement, building to a heartwrenching climax.’ Western Morning News
In the village, a woman reflects on a lifelong fascination with an ancient love story as she faces an unknown future. She has come back home to face up to the realities of her life – but at the same time, the story of Abelard and Heloise sustains her imagination.
The new arrival on the beach sets in chain a sequence of events that no-one can alter, and in this mystical work of literary fiction, we witness a man experiencing our world as though for the first time.
Discover Sam: the last good man on earth.
’Paints powerful images of the Cornish coastline and the village community.’ Eastern Daily Press
‘A canny mix of myth, fable and reality and I have cast my mind back to it frequently since I finished it and been able to see hidden depths.’ Dovegreyreader
Read the opening pages of the novel here.