Bruce Pike can hear the sea at night and longs to go to the shore. When he befriends Loonie, his small town’s wild boy, that dream is realized. Together, intoxicated by the treacherous power of the waves and by the immortality of youth, the two boys defy all limits and rules. Pikelet learns what it is to be extraordinary, feels exhilaration for the very first time, and – caught up in love and friendship and an erotic current he cannot resist – he understands the true meaning of fear. These are experiences that will far outlast his adolescence. How, then, to mask the emptiness of leaving such intensity behind?

‘A love letter to the sea and a moving coming-of-age story . . . Rapturous’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Breath has the sensibility and reach of an epic’ Scotland on Sunday

‘Full of fizz and a vital poetry of sun, sand, sea and air’ Independent on Sunday

‘Breath has the urgent clarity of a story that needed to be told’ Guardian