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Sea Change
'I'll be back soon, my love. Tonight, I hope.'
The last Eve saw of her mother was a wave from the basket of a rising balloon. A wilful, lonely orphan in the house of her erratic artist guardian, Eve struggles to retain the image of her missing mother and the father she never knew. In a London beset by pageantry, incipient riot and the fear of Napoleonic invasion, Eve must grow into a young woman with no one to guide her through its perils.
Far away, in a Norfolk fishing village, the Rev Snead preaches hellfire and damnation to his impoverished parishioners and oppressed wife. Snead illustrates his sermons with the example of a mute woman pulled from the sea, over whom he keeps a very close watch indeed.
The last Eve saw of her mother was a wave from the basket of a rising balloon. A wilful, lonely orphan in the house of her erratic artist guardian, Eve struggles to retain the image of her missing mother and the father she never knew. In a London beset by pageantry, incipient riot and the fear of Napoleonic invasion, Eve must grow into a young woman with no one to guide her through its perils.
Far away, in a Norfolk fishing village, the Rev Snead preaches hellfire and damnation to his impoverished parishioners and oppressed wife. Snead illustrates his sermons with the example of a mute woman pulled from the sea, over whom he keeps a very close watch indeed.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 8, 2021
3 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
Alix Nathan
12 books64 followersAlix Nathan was born in London and educated there and at York University where she read English and Music.
She has lived in Norwich, Munich, Philadelphia, Birkenhead and now in the Welsh Marches where, with her husband, she owns some ancient woodland.
She has published three children’s books and written about Christina Rossetti and the 18th century writer and notorious beauty Mary Robinson.
Since 2006 she has been writing adult fiction and her short stories have been published in Ambit, The London Magazine, New Welsh Review and read on BBC Radio 4.
Her short story collection, His Last Fire, was published with Parthian in 2014. In 2015 Parthian published her debut novel, The Flight of Sarah Battle.
She has lived in Norwich, Munich, Philadelphia, Birkenhead and now in the Welsh Marches where, with her husband, she owns some ancient woodland.
She has published three children’s books and written about Christina Rossetti and the 18th century writer and notorious beauty Mary Robinson.
Since 2006 she has been writing adult fiction and her short stories have been published in Ambit, The London Magazine, New Welsh Review and read on BBC Radio 4.
Her short story collection, His Last Fire, was published with Parthian in 2014. In 2015 Parthian published her debut novel, The Flight of Sarah Battle.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 28, 2024
A rather unusual historical novel set during the Napoleonic Wars, starting in 1802 and continuing until 1815. The beginning is based on an actual incident, a ballooning accident. Here there is a balloon trip with two men and a woman. The woman is Sarah Battle. The balloon crashes into the sea. The men are rescued, but the woman is feared drowned. We move to a split narrative. Sarah is picked up in the sea off East Anglia, almost drowned. She is unable to walk or communicate and is presumed to be an attempted suicide. She is taken in by the Rev Snead a hellfire and damnation preacher and is cared for by his wife Hester. Rev Snead, assuming she is an attempted suicide wants to show her off as an example of God’s wrath towards sinners. She finds an ally in Hester. Sarah’s daughter Eve is a child when the accident happens and the second narrative strand follows her as she grows up.
The novel takes us through some of the events and issues of the time: Nelson’s funeral, a frost fair on the Thames, Luddites, freethinking and radicals.
The story flows well and heads towards what seems to be an obvious conclusion. The ending is a bit abrupt and the novel would have benefitted from being a bit longer. There were interesting aspects to this, brief explorations of radicalism and Luddites, but not enough to completely rescue it.
The novel takes us through some of the events and issues of the time: Nelson’s funeral, a frost fair on the Thames, Luddites, freethinking and radicals.
The story flows well and heads towards what seems to be an obvious conclusion. The ending is a bit abrupt and the novel would have benefitted from being a bit longer. There were interesting aspects to this, brief explorations of radicalism and Luddites, but not enough to completely rescue it.
May 11, 2024
In The Warlow Experiment, Alix Nathan gave us a historical novel with a difference, one based on a premise would have been incredible, were it not based on documented facts – a scientist conducts a unique experiment in which a man volunteers to live for seven years underground “without seeing a human face”.
Nathan returns with another beautifully executed historical novel, Sea Change, set in England in the early 19th Century. This is actually a sequel to the author’s debut novel, The Flight of Sarah Battle, and features some of the earlier book’s characters.
Although Sea Change may not expect us to suspend our disbelief as much as The Warlow Experiment, Nathan still shows a penchant for the striking, the surprising, the out-of-the-ordinary, albeit grounded in documented history. The novel starts with a cinematic description of an ascent in a balloon, piloted by “Mr Garnerin, the celebrated aeronaut”. This is based on an account of an actual flight documented in an entry for 28 June in the 1802 Annual Register. As she explains in her concluding Author’s Note, Nathan borrows heavily from this report, but inserts her own characters with Mr Garnerin – Joseph Young, a talented artist prone to bouts of depression, and young and beautiful Sarah Battle, operator of Battle’s Coffee Shop and erstwhile partner of the late Tom Cranch, radical activist and publisher.
The flight ends in tragedy. Caught in a storm, the balloon is blown off-course, landing into the North Sea. Joseph and Garnerin are saved, but Sarah is lost. Her toddler daughter Eve, with her mother presumed dead, is raised as Joseph’s ward.
Meanwhile, Sarah is brought ashore close to a village off the Norfolk coast and delivered to a local clergyman, the Reverend Snead, renowned for his “fire and brimstone” sermons. Sarah, voiceless and amnesiac following her trauma, is considered a “saved suicide”, and is soon used and abused by Snead, first as an example for his flock and then as a miracle-working “pure soul”. As Snead’s religious mania intensifies, fuelled by his inner demons, local doctor Edward, a compassionate believer in humane approaches to psychiatry, provides a ray of hope both for Sarah and for Snead’s suffering wife Hester.
Alix Nathan combines the two narratives, which move parallelly, sometimes converging in the most unexpected of ways. The trials of Sarah and Hester on the one hand, and Eve on the other, make for engrossing reading. Nathan creates a cast of strong and endearing female characters, battling against patriarchal cruelty. This is balanced by the positive portrayal of male figures such as Edward, Eve’s elderly teacher Mr Pyke and the late, absent (but evidently widely admired) Thomas Cranch.
However, in my view, what takes this novel to the next level is the eye for period detail, no doubt backed by detailed researched. There are some striking set-pieces, including vivid descriptions of London in the grips of radical ideas and the scent of revolution. The novel expresses the disquiet of the age, expressed for instance through the Luddite movement. And as a Maltese reader, I could not help being struck by the descriptions of the capital Valletta, which Joseph visits in the first years of British rule.
Sea Change is a colourful novel which portrays the intimate and personal against the backdrop of the larger-scale canvas of societal upheaval.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
Nathan returns with another beautifully executed historical novel, Sea Change, set in England in the early 19th Century. This is actually a sequel to the author’s debut novel, The Flight of Sarah Battle, and features some of the earlier book’s characters.
Although Sea Change may not expect us to suspend our disbelief as much as The Warlow Experiment, Nathan still shows a penchant for the striking, the surprising, the out-of-the-ordinary, albeit grounded in documented history. The novel starts with a cinematic description of an ascent in a balloon, piloted by “Mr Garnerin, the celebrated aeronaut”. This is based on an account of an actual flight documented in an entry for 28 June in the 1802 Annual Register. As she explains in her concluding Author’s Note, Nathan borrows heavily from this report, but inserts her own characters with Mr Garnerin – Joseph Young, a talented artist prone to bouts of depression, and young and beautiful Sarah Battle, operator of Battle’s Coffee Shop and erstwhile partner of the late Tom Cranch, radical activist and publisher.
The flight ends in tragedy. Caught in a storm, the balloon is blown off-course, landing into the North Sea. Joseph and Garnerin are saved, but Sarah is lost. Her toddler daughter Eve, with her mother presumed dead, is raised as Joseph’s ward.
Meanwhile, Sarah is brought ashore close to a village off the Norfolk coast and delivered to a local clergyman, the Reverend Snead, renowned for his “fire and brimstone” sermons. Sarah, voiceless and amnesiac following her trauma, is considered a “saved suicide”, and is soon used and abused by Snead, first as an example for his flock and then as a miracle-working “pure soul”. As Snead’s religious mania intensifies, fuelled by his inner demons, local doctor Edward, a compassionate believer in humane approaches to psychiatry, provides a ray of hope both for Sarah and for Snead’s suffering wife Hester.
Alix Nathan combines the two narratives, which move parallelly, sometimes converging in the most unexpected of ways. The trials of Sarah and Hester on the one hand, and Eve on the other, make for engrossing reading. Nathan creates a cast of strong and endearing female characters, battling against patriarchal cruelty. This is balanced by the positive portrayal of male figures such as Edward, Eve’s elderly teacher Mr Pyke and the late, absent (but evidently widely admired) Thomas Cranch.
However, in my view, what takes this novel to the next level is the eye for period detail, no doubt backed by detailed researched. There are some striking set-pieces, including vivid descriptions of London in the grips of radical ideas and the scent of revolution. The novel expresses the disquiet of the age, expressed for instance through the Luddite movement. And as a Maltese reader, I could not help being struck by the descriptions of the capital Valletta, which Joseph visits in the first years of British rule.
Sea Change is a colourful novel which portrays the intimate and personal against the backdrop of the larger-scale canvas of societal upheaval.
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
May 7, 2021
Some books i can instantly tell you how I feel about them... others take time to settle. ‘Sea Change’, the new novel from Alix Nathan was definitely the latter. It’s ending, unexpectedly sudden, unsettled and threw me off kilter. And yet, as the days passed, I was still contemplating it. Appreciating it’s understated power. Clever, how she did that.
Slim in size, but broader in scope than ‘The Warlow Experiment’ and set during the Regency, ‘Sea Change’ is a fascinating period piece primarily about the separation of a mother and daughter, but also touching on rebellion, poverty and mental health.
The narrative follows the parallel stories of Sarah and her daughter, Eve, parted by tragedy and their own powerlessness. Both are constrained by male authority figures, determining the path of their futures. Sarah is literally voiceless, and prey to Rev. Snead’s religious fanaticism; Eve, still a child, must contend with her guardian Joseph’s artistic whims and explosive, bleak moods.
Across this narrative, Nathan paints a picture of a world on the cusp of change; poverty, women’s education, religion and employment all under threat from new ideas. Yet visible rebellion still carries great risk and danger. The story reflects this, fraught with risks to both mother and daughter.
Over the unfolding years, we see Eve’s growing acts of dissent as she yearns to learn more about her parents and be free to make her own choices. Sarah’s own circumstances change too as Hester, Snead’s much suffering wife, risks her own reputation for their happiness and safety. Nathan’s skill is in the truth which infused every character’s life; I found myself filled with pity for Betsy and Nursey, hope for Hester and Edward, and sorrow for both Joseph and Snead.
Throughout are repeated themes of marital unhappiness, childhood trauma and its continuing impact, the treatment of mental health, art and the idealisation of America as a place of escape and hope. Nathan’s writing is like opening a time capsule; vivid and atmospheric. I was transported, and despite it’s abrupt conclusion, ‘Sea Change’ is thoughtful, complex and beautifully written, a fascinating novel.
Slim in size, but broader in scope than ‘The Warlow Experiment’ and set during the Regency, ‘Sea Change’ is a fascinating period piece primarily about the separation of a mother and daughter, but also touching on rebellion, poverty and mental health.
The narrative follows the parallel stories of Sarah and her daughter, Eve, parted by tragedy and their own powerlessness. Both are constrained by male authority figures, determining the path of their futures. Sarah is literally voiceless, and prey to Rev. Snead’s religious fanaticism; Eve, still a child, must contend with her guardian Joseph’s artistic whims and explosive, bleak moods.
Across this narrative, Nathan paints a picture of a world on the cusp of change; poverty, women’s education, religion and employment all under threat from new ideas. Yet visible rebellion still carries great risk and danger. The story reflects this, fraught with risks to both mother and daughter.
Over the unfolding years, we see Eve’s growing acts of dissent as she yearns to learn more about her parents and be free to make her own choices. Sarah’s own circumstances change too as Hester, Snead’s much suffering wife, risks her own reputation for their happiness and safety. Nathan’s skill is in the truth which infused every character’s life; I found myself filled with pity for Betsy and Nursey, hope for Hester and Edward, and sorrow for both Joseph and Snead.
Throughout are repeated themes of marital unhappiness, childhood trauma and its continuing impact, the treatment of mental health, art and the idealisation of America as a place of escape and hope. Nathan’s writing is like opening a time capsule; vivid and atmospheric. I was transported, and despite it’s abrupt conclusion, ‘Sea Change’ is thoughtful, complex and beautifully written, a fascinating novel.
June 28, 2021
This is the story of Sarah and her daughter Eve, told in alternating narratives. 1802 and Sarah takes part in a balloon journey that ends in disaster. Everyone believes her dead and Eve, at the age of just 6 years, is left mourning her mother. Set in the historical backdrop of the Regency, the novel deals with themes of mental health, the effects of war and the industrial revolution.
I found this book disappointingly slow and lacking in interest. The characters weren't particular engaging and although there was some development in the characters, it didn't really add much interest,
The ending, after such a pedestrian pace was suddenly sprung on the reader and then it was all over.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.
I found this book disappointingly slow and lacking in interest. The characters weren't particular engaging and although there was some development in the characters, it didn't really add much interest,
The ending, after such a pedestrian pace was suddenly sprung on the reader and then it was all over.
I received a free review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unedited review.
November 18, 2024
Eve waves her mother, the proprietor of a well known coffee house off in a hot air balloon in 1802.
The balloon is taken off course by a storm, crashing into the sea off the Norfolk coast.
Eve is brought up by Nursey and her mother's friend the artist and engraver Joseph. Eve has a very different childhood and resents Nursey as she grows up. Nursey and Joseph both become increasingly erratic and Eve learns - with a few near misses - to look after herself.
Meanwhile, we learn of a deaf, dumb and paralysed woman who has been plucked from the sea.
Eve holds onto the fact, despite Joseph being there and convinced her mother died, that maybe she could be alive and if she is, she must find her.
This is also a story of women suffering under male, religious and moral thinking of the 1800s and how strong women looked after themselves and each other
The balloon is taken off course by a storm, crashing into the sea off the Norfolk coast.
Eve is brought up by Nursey and her mother's friend the artist and engraver Joseph. Eve has a very different childhood and resents Nursey as she grows up. Nursey and Joseph both become increasingly erratic and Eve learns - with a few near misses - to look after herself.
Meanwhile, we learn of a deaf, dumb and paralysed woman who has been plucked from the sea.
Eve holds onto the fact, despite Joseph being there and convinced her mother died, that maybe she could be alive and if she is, she must find her.
This is also a story of women suffering under male, religious and moral thinking of the 1800s and how strong women looked after themselves and each other
February 7, 2024
Objectively, this book was full of things I adore. The development of mental health treatment, the tortured artist, the religious fanaticism, all are elements that I generally love in books. The book was well-written, and I would say I was engaged throughout reading it. However, for some reason it just didn't resonate with me. I didn't feel any sense of urgency, and even the most dramatic scenes didn't provoke much emotional response in me. I can't quite put my finger on why, so I've still given it 3 stars because "I just didn't vibe with it" isn't reason enough for me to drag down the overall Goodreads score, but I don't think I'll be reaching for this one again.
May 8, 2025
This was a beautifully written novel, subtly intertwined in British History from the late 18th to early 19th centuries. However, the plot itself was quite slow, with unsteady pacing throughout. I thought the initial premise was interesting, but little action or forward progress took place during the primary contents of the novel, right up until the very end, when everything seemed to be squished in for the finale. I did like the character of Hester and the conflicting relationship with Edward and Mr. Snead, however, other characters did fall flat or had little growth throughout. Overall though, the writing was eloquent and impressive, but did not match the contents or structure.
September 11, 2025
3.5 stars
This was a little slow but an intriguing historical read that features a mother and daughter - the mother goes missing after a hot air balloon ride, so the young daughter Eve is taken to live with Joseph, who is a little strange to say the least.
And in Norfolk a young woman is rescued from the sea, and taken in by the local Reverend and his wife where she is used by him to preach to the locals. She remains mute, but provides good company for the wife and you have really interesting dynamics playing out. I liked the nods to the historical events going on at the time which brings the story to life.
This was a little slow but an intriguing historical read that features a mother and daughter - the mother goes missing after a hot air balloon ride, so the young daughter Eve is taken to live with Joseph, who is a little strange to say the least.
And in Norfolk a young woman is rescued from the sea, and taken in by the local Reverend and his wife where she is used by him to preach to the locals. She remains mute, but provides good company for the wife and you have really interesting dynamics playing out. I liked the nods to the historical events going on at the time which brings the story to life.
August 28, 2022
Sea Change continues The Flight of Sarah Battle with Sarah suffering from amnesia and aphasia, her daughter Eve growing up under the guardianship of Joseph Young, a brilliant artist but also bipolar who is becomes addicted to laudenum.
Much of the book's theme is madness, from characters seemingly insane, to the development of talking practice (to cure trauma) and the fact that insane asylums feature as both a sign of trouble but also a sign of progress.
Curious to know where Alix Nathan will take her characters next.
Much of the book's theme is madness, from characters seemingly insane, to the development of talking practice (to cure trauma) and the fact that insane asylums feature as both a sign of trouble but also a sign of progress.
Curious to know where Alix Nathan will take her characters next.
March 30, 2023
Well it’s an easy read and I enjoyed the opening chapter. But what a horrifically contrived plot. Despite the fact that the action takes place in London, somewhere on the Essex coast and somewhere in Yorkshire, all the characters have multiple connections with each other to the extent that you’d think they were the only people in England. And rather than immersing you in the period, the author seems to be ticking off a list of cliches - Luddites - tick, frost fair - tick etc. Sorry but not convinced.
August 29, 2021
A really interesting historical novel. The story took a while to get into but once I got to know the characters the story flowed really well. The story is really quite unique but alongside that the social commentary of the time period makes a really good backdrop to the story as we have glimpses of some major events in history, an insight into medical treatments of the time, particularly mental health, and a brush with the industrial revolution.
December 20, 2022
It took me a little while to get into this book but once I was. I was captivated. An interesting story told in an unusual way that at first I wasn’t sure of but came to admire. The ending at first seemed abrupt and yet was fitting. I enjoyed this book much more than I thought i would initially, glad I stuck with it.
April 9, 2025
A quirky historical premise: the real-life hot air balloon flight to celebrate the Peace of Amiens in 1802. The actual event was part showmanship, part feat of technical engineering. This novel is sadly neither. Georgian London is faithfully realised, but the characters are two-dimensional, and the plot painfully obvious.
September 27, 2022
3.5
evil being done in the name of holy righteousness is one of my favourite themes, so i’d have loved to have gone deeper into that. atmospheric and introspective without feeling too insular. the story itself could have been told at any point in time, but the effort made to set and ground it in 1800s england paid off.
evil being done in the name of holy righteousness is one of my favourite themes, so i’d have loved to have gone deeper into that. atmospheric and introspective without feeling too insular. the story itself could have been told at any point in time, but the effort made to set and ground it in 1800s england paid off.
January 12, 2025
2.5
I really wasn't sure where this was going for most of the book, and when it became clear, it was a bit of a disappointment. However, I liked the writing style and would be interested to read more by the author.
I really wasn't sure where this was going for most of the book, and when it became clear, it was a bit of a disappointment. However, I liked the writing style and would be interested to read more by the author.
August 4, 2021
Another historical novel by the author of “The Warlow Experiment”, not as odd but equally well written and enjoyable with an authentic feel of the early 1800s.
August 14, 2022
Very enjoyable to read- staus interesting all the way through and you desperately want to know what will happen to all the characters in the end.
September 5, 2024
Het einde voelde opeens veel te snel en afgeraffeld. Wel jammer aangezien het iets is waar je het hele boek op zit te wachten...
January 15, 2022
Really enjoyed this book. Very imaginative story set during the turbulent late 17th -18th century in England. The historical narrative was very engaging and provided a really fascinating backdrop giving a realistic sense of society and how it was changing at the very beginnings of the industrial revolution. Eve and her mother are separated when Sarah disappears in a tragic incident. Tracks them both Eve living with Joseph in London, Sarah in Sowerthrope rescued by fishermen and living with the Reverend Snead and Hester his wife. Good yarn.
December 29, 2024
A young girl loses her mother to a ballooning accident in London during the Napoleonic wars. A mute woman, a suspected suicide, is rescued from the sea. Some great characters – especially the headstrong child and the appalling vicar – and fabulous period detail. The resolution does rely on coincidences but a great story.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews