Sea State

Tabitha Lasley was a journalist for ten years. She has lived in London, Johannesburg and Aberdeen. This is her first book.

'A breathtaking memoir … The prose is stunning: gimlet-eyed and brutal' Tomiwa Owolade, Sunday Times, Books of the Year‘Contemporary writing at its finest, without any hint of effort, egoism or pretentiousness on Lasley’s part. She is an astoundingly good writer, and this is an astoundingly good book’ Irish Times'These are powerful and moving stories of working lives in a dangerous and all-male environment, made all the more powerful by the way Lasley refuses to absent herself from the telling. The writing is carefully and unobtrusively polished, with hard edges and unflinching clarity …  Sea State marks the arrival of a gifted and exciting new voice’ Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13‘It’s extraordinary. It takes you places so few books do … it gets inside the heads that are mostly ignored by publishing’ Observer‘A startlingly original study of love, masculinity and the cost of a profession that few outside of it can truly understand’ Guardian‘She has the skill, a Joan Didion kind of skill, of inflecting non-fiction material subjectively, a habit of assessing situations via her nervous system … Sea State has all the presentness of fiction, as well as the exactitude of the non-fiction novel and the gleam of confession’ Andrew O’Hagan, author of Mayflies, LRB‘Acidic, addictive reporting with a fictional veneer. Sea State’s writing alone is worth the admission price’ Financial Times‘A powerful blend of journalism and memoir … Beautifully written, disquieting, it reminds me of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women’ David Nicholls, author of Sweet Sorrow'Piercing, brutally candid, addictive. A memoir like no other … If you were gripped by Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, this is for you' Rachel Cooke, author of Her Brilliant Career‘Incredibly compelling’ Sarah Hall, author of Burntcoat