“Duff’s fascinating account of his twelve hundred-mile journey around the Irish coast . . . is a story of discovery, of courage and perseverance, and life.” —Irish Voice A sea kayak battles the freezing Irish waters as the morning sun rises out of the countryside. On the western horizon is the pinnacle of Skellig Michael—700 feet of vertical rock rising out of exploding seas. Somewhere on the isolated island are sixth-century monastic ruins where the light of civilization was kept burning during the Dark Ages by early Christian Irish monks. Puffins surface a few yards from the boat, as hundreds of gannets wheel overhead on six foot wing spans. The ocean rises violently and tosses paddler and boat as if they were discarded flotsam. This is just one day of Chris Duff’s incredible three-month journey. “I recommend you take a ride at wave level with Chris Duff as he fights his way through ferocious seas, then brings you closer to a truly enchanted isle.” —David Hays, coauthor of the New York Times bestseller My Old Man and the Sea “His attention to detail and the vividness of his descriptions place the reader in the kayak with him. We feel the heaviness of the dense fog, each violent wave, the aching muscles as he gingerly navigates the treacherous water, and the warmth of the morning sun as it beckons further travel. Best of all, he offers us a peek into the hearts of the Irish people.” —The Oakland Press “Here is a fine, old-fashioned travelogue. Duff sallies forth and returns with a magical story for those left behind.” —Kirkus Reviews
In cooperation with Corridor Films (Nashville) and Putamayo World Music (New York), Fox Music Books presents a new edition of this bestselling book + documentary + recording package, Celtic Tides. Celtic Tides tells the story of the ongoing world-wide renaissance of traditional Celtic music through extensive and exclusive interviews with the most influential artists. First published 15 years ago and out of print for a decade, Celtic Tides remains in demand. In this new edition, another 10 artists are profiled and the discography and guides to Celtic festivals, historic sites, museums and pubs throughout the Celtic diaspora are updated. Simultaneously, Putamayo World Music will be re-releasing the companion CD Celtic Tides, and Corridor will edit the documentary for a home entertainment DVD and downloadable file at the Fox Music/Quarry Press web site.
Set on the Isles of Shoals, remote islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire, this page-turning YA debut weaves the Celtic ocean lore of selkies and a compelling mystery into a story about family secrets and love.
In Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, writer, sailor, and surfer Jonathan White takes readers across the globe to discover the science and spirit of ocean tides. In the Arctic, White shimmies under the ice with an Inuit elder to hunt for mussels in the dark cavities left behind at low tide; in China, he races the Silver Dragon, a twenty-five-foot tidal bore that crashes eighty miles up the Qiantang River; in France, he interviews the monks that live in the tide-wrapped monastery of Mont Saint-Michel; in Chile and Scotland, he investigates the growth of tidal power generation; and in Panama and Venice, he delves into how the threat of sea level rise is changing human culture—the very old and very new. Tides combines lyrical prose, colorful adventure travel, and provocative scientific inquiry into the elemental, mysterious paradox that keeps our planet’s waters in constant motion. Photographs, scientific figures, line drawings, and sixteen color photos dramatically illustrate this engaging, expert tour of the tides.
Despite its isolation on the western edge of Europe, Ireland occupies vast amounts of space on the music maps of the world. Although deeply rooted in time and place, Irish songs, dances and instrumental traditions have a history of global travel that span the centuries. Whether carried by exiles, or distributed by commercial networks, Irish traditional music is one of the most popular World Music genres, while Clare, on Ireland's Atlantic seaboard, enjoys unrivaled status as a "Home of the Music," a mecca for tourists and aficionados eager to enjoy the authentic sounds of Ireland. For the first time, this remarkable soundscape is explored by an insider-a fourth generation Clare concertina player, uilleann piper and an internationally recognized authority on Irish traditional music. Entrusted with the testimonies, tune lore, and historic field recordings of Clare performers, Gear?id ? hAllmhur?in reveals why this ancient place is a site of musical pilgrimage and how it absorbed the impact of global cultural flows for centuries. These flows brought musical change inwards, while simultaneously facilitating outflows of musical change to the world beyond - in more recent times, through the music of Clare stars like Martin Hayes and the Kilfenora C?il? Band. Placing the testimony of music and music makers at the center of Irish cultural history and working from a palette of disciplines, Flowing Tides explores an Irish soundscape undergoing radical change in the period from the Napoleonic Wars to the Great Famine, from the birth of the nation state to the meteoric rise-and fall-of the Celtic Tiger. It is essential reading for all interested in Irish/Celtic music and culture.
One by one they go missing. And in the lake a voice cries out: “Save them. . . .” In the darkness, in a lake in the middle of a prosperous college town, Rachel Matre feels the water caressing her bare skin, teasing her senses, drawing her body into a lush erotic embrace. For twenty years she has communed with the lake spirits this way—and told no one. The price is simple: She must help those in need. But now a series of young women have gone missing. The police don’t have any bodies, or even a single suspect. Only the spirits seem to sense the truth. Through them, Rachel finds herself drawn into a madman’s web. She alone can save the missing women. But who can save her?
In Tides and Seasons, David Adam draws from the rich store of Celtic Spirituality insights which speak to our own world today. The prayers he has written for this book echo the rhythms of creation which find their parallels in our spiritual lives. The movement of the tides - incoming, full flood, ebb tide, low tide - are linked to the cycle of the year, the seasons of life and the highs and lows of our own experience. Many strong currents are at work in our lives. Yet in the ebb and flow, nothing is lost, only changed. The sea of God's love is not diminished. Even in times of despair, we are made aware that there are other shores, eternal reaches, and that after the lowest ebb, the tide will flow again.
In To the Island of Tides, Alistair Moffat travels to – and through the history of – the fated island of Lindisfarne. Known by the Romans as Insula Medicata and famous for its monastery, it even survived Viking raids. Today the isle maintains its position as a space for retreat and spiritual renewal. Walking from his home in the Borders, through the historical landscape of Scotland and northern England, Moffat takes us on a pilgrimage in the footsteps of saints and scholars, before arriving for a secular retreat on the Holy Isle. To the Island of Tides is a walk through history, a meditation on the power of place, but also a more personal journey; and a reflection on where life leads us.
Irish photojournalist Grace Brennan travels the world’s war zones documenting the helpless and forgotten. After the death of her friend and colleague, Grace is shaken. She returns to London hoping to rekindle the spark with the only man she ever loved—Scottish businessman Ian MacDonald. But he gave up his championship rowing career and dreams of Olympic gold years ago for Grace . . . only for her to choose photography over him. Will life’s tides bring them back together . . . or tear them apart for good this time?
A beautiful debut novel set in the Outer Hebrides, The House Between Tides strips back layers of the past to reveal a dark mystery. In the present day, Hetty Deveraux returns to the family home of Muirlan House on a remote Hebridean island estate following the untimely death of her parents. Torn between selling the house and turning it into a hotel, Hetty undertakes urgent repairs, accidentally uncovering human remains. Who has been lying beneath the floorboards for a century? Were they murdered? Through diaries and letters she finds, Hetty discovers that the house was occupied at the turn of the century by distant relative Beatrice Blake, a young aristocratic woman recently married to renowned naturalist and painter, Theodore Blake. With socialist and suffragist leanings Beatrice is soon in conflict with her autocratic new husband, who is distant, and wrapped up in Cameron, a young man from the island. As Beatrice is also drawn to Cameron, life for them becomes dangerous, sparking a chain of events that will change many lives, leaving Hetty to assemble the jigsaw of clues piece by piece one hundred years later, as she obsessively chases the truth. In The House Between Tides, author Sarah Maine uses her skills as a storyteller to create an utterly compelling historical mystery set in a haunting and beautifully evoked location. 'Last night, debut author Maine dreamed of a contemporary spin on classic Gothic tropes. Orphan Hetty Deveraux has inherited a crumbling, wind-battered mansion on a remote Muirland Island in western Scotland, "on the edge of the world." The day she arrives to inspect her new property, however, local assessor James Cameron has found a skeleton beneath the floorboards. Who is it, and how long has it been there? Abandoned since the war, the house was the refuge of Theo Blake, a Turner-esque painter-turned-mad recluse and a distant relative of Hetty's. At loose ends since the deaths of her parents, Hetty hopes restoring the house will serve as a new beginning. Meanwhile, in 1910, Theo Blake brings his new bride to Muirland House, whose landscapes have inspired some of his most famous paintings. Maine skillfully balances a Daphne du Maurier atmosphere with a Barbara Vine-like psychological mystery as she guides the reader back and forth on these storylines. The two narrative threads are united by the theme of conservation versus exploitation: Muirland is a habitat for several species of rare birds, threatened in the 1910 plot by Blake's determination to kill and mount them for his collection and in the 2010 story by Hetty's half-formed plans to transform Muirland House into a luxury hotel. Local man Cameron wants to see the island preserved as "a precious place, wild and unspoiled, a sanctuary for more than just the birds." The setting emerges as the strongest personality in this compelling story, evoking passion in the characters as fierce as the storms which always lurk on the horizon. A debut historical thriller which deftly blends classic suspense with modern themes.' Kirkus 'Muirlan Island in Scotland's Outer Hebrides provides the sensuous setting for British author Maine's impressive debut, which charts the parallel quests of two women a century apart. [...] Vivid descriptions of the island's landscape and weather enhance this beautifully crafted novel.' Publisher's Weekly 'There is an echo of Daphne du Maurier's Rebeca in Sarah Maine's appealing debut noel, when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of a derelict mansion on a Scottish island... a highly readable debut.' Independent 'A tremendous accomplishment. So assured, so well-judged, and with such an involving story to tell, this might be the author's fifth or sixth novel, not her first. A literary star is born!' Ronald Frame, author of The Lantern Bearers and Havisham
