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Set in the evocative marshland of a North Norfolk coastal village, The Winkle Picker is the tale of nineteen-year-old Wilf Smee’s endeavours to escape the stifling influence of his father, Ned, picker of winkles. Ned approaches life much as he manipulates the removal of winkles from a shell; with deftness and an obsessive pleasure. It is not until Wilf meets a young Swedish researcher, Silje Olsson, and a callous incident occurs, that the tranquillity of the idyllic setting and Wilf’s fragile world is shattered. As dark as this act is, it soon becomes clear that this is not the only atrocity to have been committed and, as the secrets of the reed beds emerge, Ned’s ability to control the situation and his own narrative diminishes. Can love, and Wilf’s growing resilience, overcome the beauty and savagery that have masked the truth for so long?
Set in the evocative marshland of a North Norfolk coastal village, The Winkle Picker is the tale of nineteen-year-old Wilf Smee’s endeavours to escape the stifling influence of his father, Ned, picker of winkles. Ned approaches life much as he manipulates the removal of winkles from a shell; with deftness and an obsessive pleasure. It is not until Wilf meets a young Swedish researcher, Silje Olsson, and a callous incident occurs, that the tranquillity of the idyllic setting and Wilf’s fragile world is shattered. As dark as this act is, it soon becomes clear that this is not the only atrocity to have been committed and, as the secrets of the reed beds emerge, Ned’s ability to control the situation and his own narrative diminishes. Can love, and Wilf’s growing resilience, overcome the beauty and savagery that have masked the truth for so long?