Granta Books is thrilled to have acquired on proposal Hannah Stowe’s Move Like Water, a beguiling and beautiful work of non-fiction about our human relationship with the sea and the creatures who inhabit it. Born beneath the sweep of a lighthouse beacon on the Pembrokeshire coast, Stowe is a marine biologist, sailor and artist and this book draws on her research at sea as well as her experience of sailing through some of the planet’s most varied waters. The book is underpinned by a powerful environmental message, but Stowe’s argument is made through the stories she tells – about swimming with her mother as a child, about listening to whale song, about being at sea at night – all of which encourage readers to fall in love with the seas as she has, to appreciate their majesty and their vulnerability.

Deputy Publishing Director Laura Barber commented: ‘Hannah’s proposal captured my imagination from the first page, which featured one of her magical pen and ink drawings of a sperm whale, and her prose is just as bewitching. This heartfelt hymn to the sea promises to be an unforgettable introduction to one of the most gifted nature writers of the new generation.’

For publication in the UK spring 2023.

‘The shelves are awash with sea books. But Stowe is different. She doesn’t just watch and describe the sea; she’s part of it. It surges inside her and crashes out onto the page. The book’s drenched with salt water. It fizzes, clicks, booms and screams. Tremendous’ Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild and A Little Brown Sea

‘Exquisite in its intelligence and boundless in the fetch of its wave’ Jay Griffiths, author of Wild

‘Let Hannah’s captivating prose transport you on a journey across the waves, feeling the wind and salt on your skin, and always watching out for the tantalising glimpse of a whale. You will be enthralled by her personal story, invigorated by her energy and determination, and persuaded to think deeply about the ocean, its living treasures and the human troubles they face’
Dr Helen Scales, author of The Brilliant Abyss and Scientists in the Wild: Galápagos.

‘In this inspiring memoir Hannah Stowe recounts her lifelong love affair with the sea and illuminates the complexities of our relationship with ocean ecosystems. It is an urgent call to address the damage we’re doing to the oceans, and a siren song to the beauty and power of the sea’ Lulah Ellender, author of Grounding