Ingo

The sea is all-powerful in this haunting story of the intertwining of the lives of rock solid, air-breathing humans and the invented, water-dwelling sea people. Robustly realistic on account of Helen Dunmore’s familiar ability to create a convincing community and the characters within it, Ingo is also a story shot through with a touch of mystery and magic. Sapphire and her brother Conor’s idyllic childhood growing up on the coast of Cornwall is shattered when their father disappears at sea in unexplained circumstances. Desolate, Conor is increasingly drawn to the sea and, when Sapphy follows him she discovers the secret domain of sea people with whom he is spending all his time. Initially suspicious of this unknown world, Sapphy, too, soon joins the magical watery world that has her brother in thrall. It’s a wordy story, full of beautiful description told unhurriedly to allow the images to build and become real. Niamh Cusack reads it gently catching both the allure and the danger of the sea world and allowing its magic to weave a spell over listeners.