2026 Walter Scott Prize for Best Historical Novel (longlist)
2025 Booker Prize (longlist)
2025 Nero Book Award for Fiction (shortlist)
*LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025*
*WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2025*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE 2026*
*LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026*
'A huge talent' HILARY MANTEL
'A magnificent writer' DOUGLAS STUART
'One of the finest novelists of his generation' THE TIMES
Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp; spending the rest of the day selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.
When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?
Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.
***
MORE PRAISE FOR SEASCRAPER:
'A book about dreams, an exploration of class and family, a celebration of the power and the glory of music, a challenge to the limits of realism, and - stunningly - a love story' BOOKER PRIZE 2025 JUDGES
'It's a senuous treat, this novel . . . A language of the sea washes over every page' ROSS RAISIN
'A tale so richly atmospheric you can almost taste the tang of brine and inhale the sea fog . . . [Wood] transforms the quotidian into the poetic, making the exactitude of each task sing on the page' GUARDIAN
‘Wood is up there with the very best. He packs more poetry into his opening paragraph than many a Booker-winner achieves in their entire oeuvre’ JOHANNA THOMAS-CORR, THE TIMES
'Seascraper shimmers, salt-flecked and rippling' SPECTATOR
Genre: Literary Fiction
*WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2025*
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM HISTORICAL PRIZE 2026*
*LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026*
'A huge talent' HILARY MANTEL
'A magnificent writer' DOUGLAS STUART
'One of the finest novelists of his generation' THE TIMES
Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp; spending the rest of the day selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.
When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?
Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.
***
MORE PRAISE FOR SEASCRAPER:
'A book about dreams, an exploration of class and family, a celebration of the power and the glory of music, a challenge to the limits of realism, and - stunningly - a love story' BOOKER PRIZE 2025 JUDGES
'It's a senuous treat, this novel . . . A language of the sea washes over every page' ROSS RAISIN
'A tale so richly atmospheric you can almost taste the tang of brine and inhale the sea fog . . . [Wood] transforms the quotidian into the poetic, making the exactitude of each task sing on the page' GUARDIAN
‘Wood is up there with the very best. He packs more poetry into his opening paragraph than many a Booker-winner achieves in their entire oeuvre’ JOHANNA THOMAS-CORR, THE TIMES
'Seascraper shimmers, salt-flecked and rippling' SPECTATOR
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"I loved this hugely atmospheric story and its tender portrait of quiet Thomas Flett, a young man who secretly longs to make music, but whose dreams and prospects are constrained by his hard life, local community, upbringing and background. Then a passing American gives him - and us - a brief glimpse into what it means to aspire for something more. Haunting and beautiful, this is a very special novel indeed." - Sarah Easter Collins
"Benjamin Wood is a singular voice. Intense, original, unforgettable." - Kelly Mullen
"Seascraper is powerful, poignant and poetic. I can't recommend it enough." - Benjamin Myers
"It is a sensuous treat, this novel. So much care has been given to every detail - of shrimps and sea mists and sinkpits, of work and music. A language of the sea washes over every page." - Ross Raisin
"A quiet, unassuming book about honest work and modest dreams, about sons and their duty, and those brief, wonderful moments when we glimpse the possibility of living a different life. Benjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written." - Douglas Stuart
"Benjamin Wood is a singular voice. Intense, original, unforgettable." - Kelly Mullen
"Seascraper is powerful, poignant and poetic. I can't recommend it enough." - Benjamin Myers
"It is a sensuous treat, this novel. So much care has been given to every detail - of shrimps and sea mists and sinkpits, of work and music. A language of the sea washes over every page." - Ross Raisin
"A quiet, unassuming book about honest work and modest dreams, about sons and their duty, and those brief, wonderful moments when we glimpse the possibility of living a different life. Benjamin Wood is a magnificent writer and I intend to read everything he has written." - Douglas Stuart
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Used availability for Benjamin Wood's Seascraper