I was excited by this book just by looking at the cover, which shows two young people with surf boards waiting for a huge wave. By the second line I discovered that it is set in Cornwall – my favourite place on earth.
Sam, his mother and sister all move back to Cornwall, which he left when he was quite young. His grandmother is terminally ill and he is set to inherit her house when she dies. They have been estranged from her since the death of his father. They have rented a semi-detached cottage on the moor outside a village.
Sam soon meets Jade who lives with her father in the other cottage. Sam is immediately impressed by Jade’s appearance but she doesn’t seem particularly friendly toward him. She is a bit dismissive of him when she finds out that he doesn’t surf. Sam discovers that surfing is all that Jade lives for and he is so fascinated by her that he gets sucked into her world. She calls him Kook which in surfer’s language refers to someone who wants to be a surfer.
Jade is an unlikely friend for Sam who has been a high achiever at school, whereas Jade often skips school if there is a good surf to ride. He soon becomes embroiled with Jade’s crowd of friends who are not the sort of people his Mum wants him to associate with - and he falls in love with her so desperately that he is prepared to push himself beyond his physical abilities in order to match her passion.
Sam is shown a surfing magazine with an old photo showing a lighthouse behind which there is a giant wave. The place is called Devil’s Horns but no one knows where it is, just that, at a certain time of year, it will provide the UK’s biggest wave which has never yet been ridden. Will Sam be able to help locate the wave? And will he and Jade be able to ride it? I read this book far into the night because I couldn’t wait till morning to find out what happened.
Some people may disapprove of the book because there is alcohol, drugs and sex in it but what you will remember is the power of love, the stunning Cornish coast and the desire to fulfil a dream that is so strong that it makes everything else insignificant.
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
