Song of the Sea

The touching story of Jane Dolby and The Fishwives Choir, uniting fishing communities around the UK. Jane tells how she fell in love with a fisherman, leading her to find a place in a traditional British world that many have forgotten. A friendship with Colin, her shy yet kind neighbor, develops into something more. Their first kiss takes place at sea and the rhythms of the fishing community become part of Jane's life. Together, they marry and build a family. But then Jane faces the loss every fisherman's wife fears: the disappearance of her husband when his boat overturns at sea. As Jane struggles with her grief, she must fight to keep a roof over her family's heads, as she clashes with the faceless officials who demand proof of a death she cannot provide. In time, she triumphs, building a legal case to settle his affairs, as well as rebuilding a life for her and their children. She tells of the kindness of friends and strangers, as the fishing world rallies around one of their own, and the importance of her own Christian faith. Over time, this remarkable woman forms a plan to give something back to the community that has helped her, founding The FishWives' Choir, in the style of the Military Wives. Bringing together 80 women from fishing communities up and down the country to release a charity single, Jane gives a voice to women previously unheard and finds herself thrust into the national spotlight. And, after years in which grief stole her ability to sing, she finds her own voice again. Woven throughout Jane's words will be the stories of the women who come together from around the country to join the choir, and their own experiences of being the wives, daughters, and mothers of fishermen—the most dangerous peacetime occupation that exists.

Jane Dolby's husband, Colin, a fisherman, was lost at sea off Southend during a freak storm in 2008. His body was not found until almost a year after his boat overturned. After confronting the loss every fisherman's wife fears, Jane decided to give back to her adopted community, forming a choir of "fishwives" who would find themselves in the national spotlight—and, in the process, help return Jane to life.Emma Rowley is the author of Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey and worked as a ghost writer on Karren Brady's autobiographyStrong Woman. She is currently deputy features editor at the Daily Telegraphand has worked as a journalist in national news for nine years.