The Offing by Benjamin Myers

I recently read ‘The Offing’ by Benjamin Myers. I felt a sense initially of walking out one Midsummer Morning with Laurie Lee – of wonder and adventure awaiting me and the principal character, Robert. I did then wonder for a while where we were going and how we, the readers, would know if we’d got there. All that changed as Robert made his way down the coast from Durham to East Yorkshire and met Dulcie – an eccentric soul who had seen aspects of life that Robert had initially so wanted to experience from himself. One scene summed up the entire book for me – when Robert ‘learns to drive’ and then finds himself hurtling through the summer countryside to an impromptu picnic destination on the lawns of Castle Howard…

The descriptions of countryside and seascapes are beautifully drawn and the prose throughout is a thing of beauty, although this is not just a whimsical jaunt through the seasons. Robert is attempting to escape a pre-ordained life down the pit and Dulcie is trying to escape the memory of a tragic love affair. Set in 1946, both could be seen as allegories for leaving behind dark forces and trying to start anew.

I loved the shape of the book and nature’s paradigm into which all men and women are forced to love, lament and live; I particularly enjoyed the ending which has stayed with me.


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