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.

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.

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.

She already left one fiancé. She didn't need another. When Bree Garrett's former college roommate invites Bree to move to Starlight Ridge, a small tourist town on the Californian coast, she is all too happy to leave the deserts of New Mexico and the memories of her former life. She only has three conditions: One- No one can find out about her fear of water--totally embarrassing when you live next to the ocean. Two- No seafood. She can't stomach it. Yeah, she sees the irony of points number one and two. Three- No blind dates. The last thing she needs is a relationship. Her ex-fiancé would agree. Easier said than done when the only job available is at a surf shop and the owner, Caleb, is under the impression that Bree has applied to be a scuba instructor, and not a cashier, as she had intended. Bree tries to clear up the misunderstanding, but it's hard when she seems to lose her voice--and her breath--every time Caleb is near. How could she not when he happens to be attractive, single and, as it turns out, also doesn't like seafood? Bree and Caleb struggle against the pull of the tide that seems determined to bring them together. But, despite their differences, maybe this is one battle that is okay to lose.

Margery Sharp’s enchanting New York Times–bestselling novel about the profound ways that love can change our view of other people and the world around us Miss Dolores Diver and Harry Gibson have been passionately in love ever since they met at the Chelsea Arts Ball: He came as a brown paper parcel, she as a Spanish dancer. Only the eye of love could have transformed plain Dolores into a Spanish rose and stout Harry into the man of Dolores’s dreams. But ten years later, during the Great Depression, Harry must marry his colleague’s daughter in order to save his nearly bankrupt business. The course of true love never runs smoothly but with some inadvertent help from Dolores’s keenly observant nine-year-old niece, Martha, Harry’s grasping fiancée, and Dolores’s calculating lodger, Harry might succeed in both averting financial ruin and reclaiming his beloved.