The images that pass before him are of a life lived out against the backdrop of the industrial city of Bradford, from his troubled childhood and adventures of youth, to the dilemma that led him to this place, trapped between the love of his family, his beautiful mistress and the shame-filled doom that awaits him on dry land.

Walter's is a story filled with tragedy, heroism, romance and humour, populated by a rich range of colourful, northern characters. It is set at a time of huge social upheaval, as the squalor and deprivation of the Victorian era begin to yield to the exciting possibilities of the new century.

Will our hero make it across the muddy wastes and find fulfilment in a new life at his journey's end? Will he succumb to the hidden dangers of the unstable sands, or be swept away forever by the returning tide?

Trevor Raistrick and The Crooked Sea