The Diver And The Lover

'The lives of the characters get entangled in this powerful read' WOMAN'S OWN 'A pacy, gripping tale... written with skill and colour. It gave me enormous pleasure to read such a satisfying novel.' SANTA MONTEFIORE 'If you're in desperate need of a far-flung getaway, indulge in this slice of escapist fiction' HEAT 'Being transported to a Spanish summer in 1951... I feel the cool of the shadows under the trees and hear the sea as it glistens in the rippling heat.' FERN BRITTON 'This absorbing, poignant rollercoaster of a read is utterly satisfying and will stay with you long after you've put it down.' PATRICIA SCANLAN 'Keeps up the pace and excitement to the very end.' JOAN BAKEWELL Soaked in sunlight, love and the mysteries surrounding a famous artist The Diver and the Lover is a novel inspired by true events. It is 1951 and sisters Ginny and Meredith have travelled from England to Spain in search of distraction and respite. The two wars have wreaked loss and deprivation upon the family and the spectre of Meredith's troubled childhood continues to haunt them. Their journey to the rugged peninsula of Catalonia promises hope and renewal. While there they discover the artist Salvador Dali is staying in nearby Port Lligat. Meredith is fascinated by modern art and longs to meet the famous surrealist. Dali is embarking on an ambitious new work, but his headstrong male model has refused to pose. A replacement is found, a young American waiter with whom Ginny has struck up a tentative acquaintance. The lives of the characters become entangled as family secrets, ego and the dangerous politics of Franco's Spain threaten to undo the fragile bonds that have been forged. A powerful story of love, sacrifice and the lengths we will go to for who - or what - we love.

An in-depth look at the danger of diving the Andrea Doria, the "Everest" of deep-sea diving, by an award-winning journalist and photographer. On a foggy July evening in 1956, the Italian cruise liner Andrea Doria, bound for New York, was struck broadside by another vessel. In eleven hours, she would sink nearly 250 feet to the murky Atlantic Ocean floor. Thanks to a daring rescue operation, only fifty-one of more than 1,700 people died in the tragedy. But the Andrea Doria is still taking lives. Considered the Mount Everest of diving, the Andrea Doria is the ultimate deepwater wreck challenge. Over the years, a small but fanatical group of extreme scuba divers have investigated the Andrea Doria, pushing themselves to the very limits of human endurance to explore her—and not all have returned. Diver Kevin McMurray takes you inside this elite club with a hard, honest look at those who go deeper, farther, and closer to the edge than others would ever dream. Deep Descent is the riveting true story of the human spirit overcoming human frailty and of fearsome, mortal risks traded for a hard-core adrenaline rush. Chronicling these adventures in his page-turning narrative and in dozens of dramatic photos, McMurray draws us deeper into the cold heart of the unforgiving sea, giving us a powerful vision of a place to which few will ever have the skills—or the courage—to go.

Scuba Confidential is a unique book packed full of valuable tips and expert advice, giving you unprecedented access to the secrets of dive professionals and technical divers. With Scuba Confidential, you will learn how to master skills and techniques that will make you a more confident, capable and safe diver. It offers an informed, balanced view on some of scuba diving's most contentious issues like going solo, deep diving and rebreathers and includes a comprehensive analysis of how diving accidents happen and how to make sure you do not become a statistic. Scuba Confidential also gives you valuable insights on a vast range of topics such as what it is like to do a cave diving course, how to make sure you buy the right equipment, what to consider when choosing an instructor, things even the pros get wrong and where to find the best diving in the world. This is candid, no-nonsense practical advice from a professional who has been involved over the last three decades with virtually every aspect of the sport. Have you ever wondered? How to look as comfortable in the water as the professionals do? What it is like to dive inside shipwrecks? Which training courses are most worthwhile? If you would make a good technical diver? If you should be considering a rebreather? How you can improve your diving skills? How you can reduce your air consumption? Why diving accidents happen and how to prevent them? Whether you might sometimes actually be safer solo diving? How to dive deep safely? Or How muck diving can possibly be any fun? Scuba Confidential has the answers to these questions and many more.

Finch chronicles the harrowing true story of two friends who plunge 900 feet into the water in South Africa--and only one returns. What happened that day is the stuff of nightmarish drama, but it's also a compelling human story of friendship and of coming to terms with loss and tragedy. 8-page color photo insert.

A world-champion competitor in the deadly sport of freediving tells the heart-wrenching story of his life with and without his beloved wife, Audrey, who died trying to break his own record. Francisco 'Pipin' Ferreras, a native of Cuba, is a world champion in the dangerous and controversial sport of freediving, in which athletes test the limits of their minds and bodies by diving to unthinkable depths without oxygen tanks. Audrey Mestre was a beautiful French marine biology student researching the physiology of freediving. When she decided to base her studies on the legendary Pipin, a passionate romance was born. Pipin and Audrey soon married and moved to Miami, where she took up the sport herself and proceeded to break the female world record (115 metres). They became freediving's power couple, constantly training together and encouraging one another. of the Dominican Republic while attempting to break the world record -- which was currently held by her husband. Now, for the first time, Pipin tells his own story. He addresses the controversy that has followed him throughout his career and defends his sport and his own records against criticism from peers. And Pipin opens up as never before, providing what no interviewer has been able to capture: a glimpse into the heart of a complex and haunted man. In his own words, he relates the tragic story of his relationship with Audrey -- a unique and complicated tale of love and competition taken to the extreme.

“Prepare yourself for a daring, unsparing takedown of millennial Manhattan, trick by glossy trick.” —Beatriz Williams We are a bifurcated generation, the Romantics versus the Realists: those who prefer transistor radios to Bose sound systems, scuffed ocean liner trunks to gleaming Rimowa hard shells, fountain pens to BlackBerry keyboards, restored old roadsters to eco-friendly hybrids, the unsmudgeable guarantee of old illusions to present-life ones, tinny and certain to disappoint. When M. meets Belle at Dartmouth, they become the unlikeliest best friends. Belle is an unapologetic Romantic famous on campus for her bright red accessories and hundred-watt smile, while M. is a tomboyish Realist who insists she’ll always prefer her signet ring to any diamond. Despite their differences, they are drawn together, and after graduation they both move to New York with all the unfounded confidence of twenty-two. M. secures a job at the city’s most prestigious investment bank, and Belle turns her nostalgic aesthetic into one of the first lifestyle blogs, which quickly goes viral. Their future is spread before them, a glittering tableau of vintage cocktails, password-guarded parties, and high-octane ambition. But as they are pulled deeper into their new lives, and into the charming orbit of their Gatsby-esque new friend, Jeremy, style and substance—and dreams and reality—increasingly blur. In this fake plastic world, what do success and love and happiness even look like? Dazzling, whimsical, and full of yearning, Fake Plastic Love is the transporting story of bright young things tested by the unsentimental realities of post-graduate life. Tipping its hat to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kimberley Tait’s gorgeous, incisive debut is a portrait of millennial Manhattan—equal parts nostalgia and modernity—that explores the timeless question: You will be a grand total of what you spend your time doing, so what do you want to add up to?

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell plunges into the adventurous and deadly world of underwater treasure hunters in a heart-stopping tale that superbly combines atmosphere, action, romance, and suspense. After a family tragedy, Kate Donnelly left the Caribbean behind forever. But a series of bad management decisions has left her family's diving and marine recovery business drowning in red ink. Now her brother pleads with her to come back to the island nation of St Vincent. Without Kate's financial expertise, the iconic treasure-hunting enterprise started by her grandfather will go under. Unable to say no to the little family she has left, Kate heads back to the beautiful and terrifying ocean that still haunts her nightmares. Holden Cameron was addicted to the adrenaline rush of active duty—including narrowly surviving an underwater explosives accident. The last thing the former British military diver wants is to babysit a family of thieves on a tropical island—even if they are the world-famous Diving Donnellys. But in his new civilian job, Holden must investigate the suspicious activity surrounding a Donnelly dive to recover treasure from the ancient wreck of a pirate ship. When equipment, treasure, and even divers begin to disappear, Kate and Holden form an uneasy alliance to uncover the truth. But the deeper they plummet into the mystery, the closer they come to each other. Soon they are sharing their deepest fears and darkest secrets—and a combustible chemistry too hot to ignore.