Twist by Colum McCann,  published on 5 March this year, is another stunner from this acclaimed author.  The narrator is a journalist—a drinker, rootless, and with a jaundiced view of life—who is sent to join a cable repair vessel working out of Cape Town. His brief is to write an article about the work of repairing the communications cables that lie on the seabed and to document the men and life on board the ship.

The fibre-optic cables beneath the ocean carry the world’s information, making them vulnerable to breakages — both accidental and deliberate. The crew’s task is to locate the damaged cable, lift it, carry out a durable repair, and replace it on the seabed. Leading the mission is John Conway: charismatic, gifted at his job, yet remote and unknowable. The ship remains at sea for as long as it takes to complete the repair, giving the narrator plenty of time to immerse himself in life on board.  In Let the Great World Spin, McCann featured Philippe Petit, the man who walked a
tightrope between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

In Twist, he explores the extreme sport of free diving, where divers can hold their breath for up to eight minutes. His vivid descriptions of these seemingly superhuman feats heighten the novel’s dramatic tension. Fast-paced and deeply relevant to modern life, Twist is compelling and thought-provoking read.

Find it at The Old Hall Bookshop, Brackley £18.99