Rough Edges: Where Land Meets Water, the Untold Stories of Coastline Communities

by Natasha Carthew

Beyond the picture postcards, Britain's coastal communities are suffering.

Crowds flood the beaches during summer heatwaves but they quickly vanish again, leaving behind drifts of rubbish and unstable seasonal jobs. Seaside property is in high demand but affordable only for landlords and gentrifiers. The cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing pains of austerity trap those at the vulnerable edges of our nation in poverty.

Having grown up in rural Cornwall, Natasha Carthew leaves the county in search of a new home. Travelling the country and exploring the villages, towns and cities of our coast, she meets the people fighting to keep these places alive. With fierce compassion, she shares their voices and their stories.

Rough Edges is a rallying cry for the beauty and importance of our coast and its people.

PRAISE FOR UNDERCURRENT
'A story of queer resistance, of community and of finding your own voice'
DAMIAN BARR

'Important and beautifully lyrical'
THE TIMES

'Haunting and powerful'
KATE MOSSE

Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 4, 2026

About the author

Natasha Carthew is a working-class writer from Cornwall. She is published by Hodder, Bloomsbury, Quercus and the National Trust. Her new book Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir of Poverty, Nature and Resilience, is out now with Coronet/Hodder.

She is known for writing on Socioeconomic issues and working-class representation in literature for several publications and programmes; including The Booker Prize Foundation, ITV, Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, The Royal Society of Authors Journal, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, The Bookseller, The Guardian, The Observer, Mslexia, The Dark Mountain Project, The Big Issue and The Economist. Natasha guest edited the working-class edition of The Bookseller (Nov 2022) and is recipient of The Bookseller Rising Star Award 2022.

Natasha is Founder and Artistic Director of The Working Class Writers Festival and The Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers in association with Octopus/Hachette.
She is represented by Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedman Literary Agency.