商品簡介
A new fishing boat should promise livelihood and independence. For Urbain Co褮, however, commissioning the traditional Goustav shipbuilders awakens envy, suspicion and open hostility in a close-knit island community where private ambition quickly becomes public business. Every decision is exposed to judgement, and the vessel taking shape carries the weight of rivalry long before it reaches the water. Around the village waterfront, practical maritime labour meets the volatile pressures of communal life. Boatbuilding knowledge passes through inherited craft, while fishermen, land people and local competitors measure one another through pride, gossip and confrontation. Urbain's determination draws his family into the risks surrounding the boat, and the preparations for its launch unfold beneath ominous weather and persistent superstition. The sea is both a working environment and an uncertain force, shaping livelihoods while sharpening the divisions among those who depend upon it. This historical novel grounds its tension in the material realities of fishing culture: the construction of a vessel, the demands of seafaring and the social consequences of standing apart. The boatbuilding shed, tavern and waterfront form a compact world in which reputations circulate as swiftly as rumours, craftsmanship is inseparable from tradition, and foreboding gathers around an intensely visible act of ambition. Maritime activity and human conflict remain closely entwined, creating a sea story driven as much by communal pressure as by the hazards beyond the shore. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.
