Dark, Salt, Clear

Starred review from May 4, 2020
Playwright Ash turns a curious and empathetic eye on the small fishing village of Newlyn in Cornwall, England, weaving history, myth, and memoir into a gripping and affecting debut. Introducing locals both down-to-earth, such as Roger, a grieving retired geologist, and eccentric, such as self-styled “Duchess of Newlyn” Pat, Ash succeeds in bringing the town vividly to life. While Ash explains her connection to the area—her mother grew up nearby and named her for local landmark Lamorna Cove—she shows how she gained a new understanding of it through firsthand experience with the fishing industry that provides Newlyn’s lifeblood. Her activities include observing fish graders rate a catch for auction, riding along on crab-fishing dayboats, and taking a weeklong voyage on a trawler, at the end of which she at last feels like a member of the community. Writing that “the consumer can know nothing of the pranks, the storms and the struggles that their weekly fish supper has been privy to,” Ash leaves readers with a lasting impression of the toil, elation, and sadness faced by her subjects. Ash’s remarkably empathetic take on a small town and its outsized contribution to the fishing industry is one to savor. Agent: Cathryn Summerhayes, Curtis Brown.