Book of the week 10/10

Where did life go?” is the opening line to Benjamin Myers’ latest novel, The Offing. It’s a question we may ask ourselves from time to time as we think about the things that we value and appreciate most. Indeed, amid the ongoing pandemic, such questions are arguably more important than ever.

Myers’ evocative response to this question lies in what’s to follow in the remainder of the novel. The multi-award-winning author’s latest effort explores the best of us as people; infused with a love of the minute pleasures in life, warmth and kindness is what we all need right now – and warmth and kindness Myers delivers.

Born in Durham himself, the novel’s setting is evidently close to home for the author as it follows 16-year-old schoolboy Robert Appleyard who sets out on foot from his Durham village one summer after the Second World War.

Making his way across the vast northern countryside, he relishes in the abundance of nature and life he comes across. Eventually, he reaches the former smugglers’ village of Robin Hood’s Bay where he meets an eccentric, worldly older woman named Dulcie. The two of them come from completely different worlds. Yet as the summer months pass, and as Dulcie introduces him to the pleasures of rich food, sea-swimming, sunburn and poetry, they form an unlikely, long-lasting friendship that will profoundly alter both their futures.

Poetry is one of the central themes explored throughout The Offing. Myers’ passion for the art form is eloquently exposed throughout.

“Poetry is mankind’s way of saying that we are not completely alone in the world,” mentions Dulcie, who inspires Robert to explore the world of poetry that she so dearly adores. Before long, Robert finds himself engrossed and gains a new perspective of the world he’d never have imagined envisaging.

It is this that allows the book to become more than a celebration of the rural north of England, revealing the broader horizons in life that can come from literature and culture. That said, the novel still stands as a heartfelt appreciation of landscape and place. Myers’ close observations of his birthplace are lyrical – poetic at times – and help to reaffirm the beauty in the simplicities of rural life.

This book reminds us of the important things in life. It reminds us of the values and richness of human connection. It reminds us that friendship, freedom and joy are to be cherished. Above all, it reminds us that life is here to be lived.

The Offing By Benjamin Myers, Bloomsbury Publishing, £8.99