DOGGERLAND

by Ben Smith (4th Estate £12.99, 208 pp) ‘THe boy’ and ‘the old man’ exist aboard an abandoned accommodation rig in a wind farm of more than 6,000 turbines somewhere in Doggerland, the submerged area of land that once connected the UK to mainland europe.

Together, as this odd pair maintain the farm, the boy is haunted by the mysterious absence of his father, whose thankless job he has inherited — until a chance of escape presents itself.

The shade of Beckett hangs over this bleak, but haunting, tale characterised by a powerfully convincing relationship between the two characters.