The Unforgiving Sea (The Searight Saga)

Ten men adrift on a lifeboat. Only one will live to tell the tale. The sequel to This Time Tomorrow. June 1944, World War Two, the middle of the Indian Ocean: a convoy ship is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Most on board are killed but ten sailors manage to clamber aboard a lifeboat. With almost nothing to eat or drink, the men are cast adrift at the mercy of The Unforgiving Sea. The sea and the elements push the men to their limits but it is the vagaries of man that brings out the worse in each of them. Discipline and comradeship deteriorate as, day by day, events take their deadly toll, leaving each man to fight for himself. Robert Searight, the son of Guy from This Time Tomorrow, emerges as the sole survivor. Traumatised by the experience, he returns to his English village to find peace and recuperate. His only task is to return a dead friend’s wedding ring to Marion, the man’s widow. But on returning home, Marion, having left in mysterious circumstances, is nowhere to be found. No one, it seems, is prepared to say why. His return to the village brings back the heartache he felt when, a year previously, his fiancée, troubled by her own past, breaks off their relationship. And here, in his village, having received a warm welcome home, Robert faces the contradictions of a small community, decent on the outside but seething with prejudice and suspicion inside; a village with a foul secret at its heart. But ultimately, it’s his own dark secret that he must confront before he can come to terms with his broken heart and the trauma of having survived The Unforgiving Sea. A sequel to This Time Tomorrow, The Unforgiving Sea is, on its surface, a tale of murder, survival and loss, while at its core we find a story of deep love, loyalty and forgiveness. Rupert Colley is the founder, editor and writer of the bestselling ‘History In An Hour’ series of ebooks and audio, published by HarperCollins. Historical fiction with drama and heart.