"The tunnel clawed people pitilessly down its dark throat, spat others out into the light... I understood then that my heart was cut in half between the living and the dead."

There is a vivacity to the writing and unpredictability to the plot of 'Ocean' which are compelling. The opening, in which the narrator bemoans realising that her husband is beautiful, is especially striking ("But beauty in the husband is a catastrophe. It's a bomb rolling unexploded in the hull"). The author, Polly Clark, is also a poet, and this comes across in the verve and confidence of the writing.

Events move at pace in the narrative. There are moments that are mundane, surreal, humorous, emotionally painful and terrifying in quick succession. If I have a minor quibble, it's that while I found the story intriguing, I never sank into it enough to feel the characters and events were real - somehow the storyteller was always faintly visible.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy 💙🚢

I genuinely thought James was just a figment of Helen's imagination or even an embodiment of Death given how dire her situation was in the beginning. I really loved how Polly Clark wrote the psychological complexity of the story is just perfect.

What stood out to me most was the tragic dynamic between Helen and Frank. They both knew deep down that their marriage was over, but while Helen was able to accept it, Frank refused to let go. He didn't want a divorce and was desperate to make it work, using the boat as a last-ditch effort to pull them back together. It felt almost possible for a moment... right up until James entered the picture again.