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Hilary Taylor’s Sea Defences, which we published in January 2023, has been shortlisted for the New Angle Prize for Literature, the £3,000 biennial award for a book of literary merit set in or influenced by the region of East Anglia.
This follows its earlier shortlisting for the Paul Torday Memorial Prize, for debut novelists over the age of 60.
Set on the North Norfolk coast, Sea Defences tells the story of a trainee vicar struggling to bond with her flock. She learns the terrifying power of the North Sea when her six-year-old daughter goes missing on the beach.
It’s a beguiling and atmospheric exploration of grief and loss, but it also has a powerful mystery at its heart, with strong echoes of the TV drama Broadchurch.
Philippa East, author of the bestselling Little White Lies, called it ‘a tender, poignant and compassionate literary thriller’ while Saga Magazine hailed it as ‘a stunning debut’.
Hilary Taylor is a retired teacher who lives in Suffolk. She was the winner of the Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction in 2022.
Sea Defences began life as a prize-winning short story, placed third in the Bath Short Story Award. It is one of six books shortlisted for the New Angle Prize.
The judges said of it: ‘We felt there was a visceral depiction of erosion, which echoed the grief the characters were struggling to process. It had a strong evocation of landscape and the East Anglian coast and how this can mirror our lives. Netflix should buy the rights immediately!’
The winner will be announced in September.
