Saltwash by Andrew Michael Hurley (Hardback)

Tom Shift arrives in Saltwash, a fading coastal town clinging to scraps of former charm, the kind of place people visit not for joy but for something unresolved. He has travelled there to meet Oliver Keele, a man he knows only through letters exchanged during treatment for cancer. Both men carry diagnoses that leave little time, and their connection has grown from quiet honesty, shared pain, and the wish to be understood by someone who truly listens.

Their dinner at the Castle Hotel marks the first time they meet face to face. The hotel, run by the Paleys, stands like a relic of brighter years, offering warmth where it can. Oliver, always quick with quotations on the page, proves just as sharp in person, though flickers of secrecy run beneath his charm. Tom reads loneliness in him and feels his own guilt rise, the guilt of a life marked by choices he cannot undo.

As guests pour into the Castle for a special prize draw offering freedom from remorse, Tom begins to question the purpose of regret. Why do we hold on to it? Who deserves release from what they have done? Saltwash becomes a crossroads for grief, forgiveness and the final chance to set things right. Some seek redemption. Some seek escape. Not all will find what they came for.