The Headland

by Abi Curtis

A novel about the dark gifts of grief, what it means to belong, and the possibility that time and space may not be what we think they are.

It is the morning following a devastating hurricane on England’s south coast, and local painter Dolores is walking the shingle beach of the Headland. She spots something unusual lurking in a piece of driftwood—a color, a creature, perhaps something fostered by the twin forces of storm and atomic fallout. It’s all anyone has been talking about, after all, just months after Chernobyl and in the shadow of the local nuclear power station.

Decades later, her son Morgan returns to the Headland to arrange for Dolores’ funeral. The power station is about to be decommissioned, and the bleak landscape is best known now as a landing point for desperate immigrants from across the Channel. Morgan’s girlfriend is pregnant—an unexpected revelation that he is not at all sure about—and he is especially keen to discover what he can from his mother’s unusual cottage, especially about his father, whom he has never known. He uncovers the diary his mother wrote following the hurricane. It tells a story about Dolores and the strange being she discovers on the beach—a story which is both enthralling and heartrending. As he reads the journal, Morgan’s own experiences of the Headland become increasingly inexplicable. The journal challenges Morgan’s ideas about love and grief, parenthood and belonging, and the very fabric of time. As he unravels the mysteries of his mother’s past, he must come to terms with his own origins and face the growing violence from those who would threaten the peace of the Headland.

Genres: Science Fiction

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2025

About the author

Abi Curtis is Professor of Creative Writing at York St. John University and is an award-winning poet. In 2004, she received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors. Her first poetry collection Unexpected Weather was published after winning the Crashaw Poetry Prize in 2008, and in 2013 Curtis received a Somerset Maugham Award for her second poetry collection The Glass Delusion. Water & Glass is her first novel.

Reviews

[Rachael Brook · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Headland grabbed me from the start. It pulled me in from the opening scenes of a storm, and continued to build tension and intrigue throughout. I soon found myself caring for the characters, worrying about them, and wanting to stay with them to the end. Dolly’s discovery on a beach the day after a storm became the very heart of the novel, and her relationship with her finding took the book in a direction I was not expecting.

Dolly, an artist with a poet’s soul, described her intriguing world through a diary which was read by her grieving son. The timings, and the ways their lives entwined, were a particularly special part of this novel. I found it unputdownable, and felt genuinely sad when the story ended. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. It’s a wonderful read, filled with emotion, and I loved every page.

[Emily Reeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent example of organic sci-fi, forgoing the spaceships and cyborgs that you might expect, and delivering the magic of discovering something alien - that is perhaps a science that we don't understand yet.

I thoroughly enjoyed untangling the mysteries of the Headland along with Morgan and Dolores. I think blurbs can never truly do a novel like this justice, as The Headland is more than 'about love and grief, parenthood and belonging'. The relationships Abi Curtis brings to life across decades, worlds and through pages are catagorically human - the haunting strangeness of the sea, Dolores' driftwood garden, and the open isolation of the cottage Morgan returns to alone - all illuminated by one aspect of strangeness: Violet. These characters will sit with me for a while.

[Rosemary D · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is beautifully written, and the imagery contained within it is definitely gorgeous. I think the premise is interesting, and the structure of the novel is really unique and served for a engrossing read. But... I couldn't help but feel like the writing was a bit heavy-handed, in a lot of different places. The way the author tries to guide your attention to where the book is going without outright saying it most of the time came across as really out of place, and the way that the mother writes seems stilted and not really like a journal at all. And the ending was, at least to me, extremely unsatisfying. All in all, it felt like the book was trying its best to be poignant, but ended up being entirely unfulfilling, despite its beautiful imagery.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though there are some clunky moments/metaphors, I felt Curtis gave a beautiful exploration of timelessness, legacy, sacrifice, grief, and most of all - death. There were incredibly beautiful moments captured in scenes between both Dolly & Violet and Dolly & her mother. She found a way to make Death feel infinite rather than finite - like there is comfort in the unknown of the end and stability of the uncertainty of the beginning.

A really wonderful book.

[Fraser Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating novel that foregrounds the ineffability of memory and the unpredictable nature of grief and loss. The strangeness of the coastal setting and the glimpses at contemporary conflicts make this an uneasy and engaging reading experience.

[Julia Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and spellbinding.