Debut Novel Explores Power, Greed In New England's Fishing Past
Seattle Publisher Announces Bradley Bagshaw's Must-Read Tale for Summer 2018
SEATTLE, May 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Clyde Hill Publishing, an independent press in Seattle, announced today that Gloucester, Mass. native Bradley Bagshaw's debut novel, Georges Bank, will be published June 12, 2018.
A work of historical fiction, Georges Bank is written in the timeless tradition of such maritime novels as C.S. Forrester's Hornblower series, Joseph Conrad's Typhoon and Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides.
Georges Bank is a nineteenth century tale of power and greed set in the stormy waters off Gloucester, Massachusetts and in the steamy fishermen brothels ashore. Maggie O'Grady, an Irish immigrant, becomes pregnant after an encounter with her first employer, a rich Boston merchant, who discards her penniless in a Gloucester brothel. Maggie raises her son in the brothel and in time finds love with a fisherman. The book chronicles their struggles at sea and ashore. It climaxes in a courtroom battle fought by two fishing widows against a heartless boat owner, and Maggie's personal battle with the Boston merchant for the affections of their son.
Bradley Bagshaw grew up in Gloucester and has lived with the sea since exploring Gloucester Harbor in a beat-up dory at age ten. Sailing instructor was his first job at sixteen, which was followed by work on the docks as a stevedore and a forklift driver. Then he was off to Exeter, Bowdoin, MIT, and Harvard Law School, and to a career as a lawyer suing fishing companies for mistreating their fishermen. Starting in 2007, Bradley and his wife sailed eleven thousand miles from Seattle to Tahiti and back on a thirty-nine-foot cutter. On that trip he conceived the idea for Georges Bank, his first novel.
"Georges Bank is a page-turner with substance," said David Weber, Emeritus Instructor in English, Phillips Exeter Academy.
"Gloucester, the setting for this gripping novel and the author's home town, survives today as a gritty seaport, teeming with history," said David Brewster, founder of Seattle Weekly, Sasquatch Books, Town Hall, Crosscut, and the Seattle Athenaeum.
Georges Bank will be available at most bookstores and online starting June 12.
About Clyde Hill Publishing
Clyde Hill Publishing is an independent, small press focusing on both historical fiction and nonfiction books by, for and about founders, innovators, thinkers and tinkerers. @ClydeHillPub or [email protected]
SOURCE Clyde Hill Publishing
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