Product details
- ISBN 9781399740586
- Weight: 400g
- Dimensions: 134 x 220mm
- Publication Date: 04 Jun 2026
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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'This is essential reading for anyone who loves this country's seasides'
Fiona Robertson, author of Stone Lands
'Natasha Carthew writes with an insight and an acuity of vision that few can match'
Sally Huband, author of Sea Bean
''Fascinating ... affecting ... illuminating ... [Carthew] has genuinely interesting things to say'
The Sunday Times
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.
'Bracing, insightful and compassionate, the book shines a light on communities too often unseen and unheard'
Jini Reddy, author of Wanderland
'A forceful but compassionate polemic, delivered with Carthew's trademark robustly lyrical prose style'
Tim Hannigan, author of The Granite Kingdom
Natasha Carthew is a Cornish working-class writer and poet. She is the author of ten books, mostly recently Undercurrent: A Cornish memoir of poverty, nature and resilience (2023), which was shortlisted for the non-fiction prize at the inaugural Nero Book Awards. She has also contributed to Hag: Forgotten Folk Tales (2020) and Women on Nature: 100+ Voices on Place, Landscape & the Natural World (2021) and Bog People: A Working-Class Anthology of Folk Horror (2025).
Natasha is the Founder/Director of The Working Class Writers Festival and Common Ground Nature Prize for Working Class Writers.
