“Closer by Sea will have you on the edge of your seat with each page turned. Filled with dialogue that will stay with you long after you’re finished and characters that will stay with you for the rest of your life. An astonishing debut by someone sure to be your new favourite author. He’s mine.”
— MARK CRITCH, comedian and cocreator of the hit TV show Son of a Critch
Description
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
CBC Books “86 Works of Canadian Fiction to Read in the First Half of 2023”
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From the writer and producer of the hit TV shows Republic of Doyle and Son of a Critch, a poignant coming-of-age debut novel about the mysterious disappearance of a young girl and the fragility of childhood bonds, set against the backdrop of a small island community adapting to an ever-changing landscape.
In 1991, on a small, isolated island off the coast of Newfoundland, twelve-year-old Pierce Jacobs struggles to come to terms with the death of his father. It’s been three years since his dad, a fisherman, disappeared in the cold, unforgiving Atlantic, his body never recovered. Pierce is determined to save enough money to fix his father’s old boat and take it out to sea. But life on the island is quiet and hard. The local fishing industry is on the brink of collapse, threatening to take an ages-old way of life with it. The community is hit even harder when a young teen named Anna Tessier goes missing.
With the help of his three friends, Pierce sets out to find Anna, with whom he shared an unusual but special bond. They soon cross paths with Solomon Vickers, a mysterious, hermetic fisherman who may have something to do with the missing girl. Their search brings them into contact with unrelenting bullies, magnificent sea creatures, fierce storms, and glacial giants. But most of all, it brings them closer to the brutal reality of both the natural and the modern world.
Part coming-of-age story, part literary mystery, and part suspense thriller, Closer by Sea is a page-turning, poignant, and powerful novel about family, friendship, and community set at a pivotal time in modern Newfoundland history. It is an homage to a people and a place, and above all it captures that delicate and tender moment when the wonder of childhood innocence gives way to the harsh awakening of adult experience.
Reviews
“[A] deeply emotional exploration of the important ties that bind us to the people and places we love. It’s also a fine coming-of-age story compellingly grounded in adventure, intrigue, best friends, and the struggle to find a way through all the awkwardness of adolescence. . . . Chafe’s novel brims with seafaring charm and the marvelous details of a fishing village on the verge of economic collapse. Closer by Sea is a bittersweet, lovingly told tale that’s sure to win your heart.”
— WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land and Fox Creek
“Chafe’s teen mystery is salt-stained Newfoundland mixed with West Irish legend and the classic adventure of Goonies and Stand by Me. Equal parts haunting, heartbreaking, and hilarious, the reader is drawn into the tragic 1990s Grand Banks cod decline, foreboding paternal absence, and growing up an uncertain islander amid great social change. Sure to be loved on our shores and beyond.”
— JESSE THISTLE, #1 bestselling author of From the Ashes
“Tiny, isolated fishing towns are postcard cute and perfectly wholesome. Until they are not. . . . In Closer by Sea, my lifelong friend and Petty Harbour native Perry Chafe has seamlessly woven the innocence and underbelly of Perigo Island in a whodunit dance that will keep you guessing till the final page.”
— ALAN DOYLE, lead singer of Great Big Sea and bestselling author of Where I Belong
