Emma Bamford

The dark side of paradise is exposed when a terrified couple reveals their daunting experience on a remote island to their rescuers—only to realize they’re still in the grips of the island’s secrets—in this intense and startling debut in the tradition of Into the Jungle and The Ruins. When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.” Trembling with fear, she reveals their shocking story to Danial. Months earlier, the couple had spent all their savings on a yacht, full of excitement for exploring the high seas and exotic lands together. They start at the busy harbors of Malaysia and, through word of mouth, Jake and Virginie learn about a tiny, isolated island full of unspoiled beaches. When they arrive, they discover they are not the only visitors and quickly become entangled with a motley crew of expat sailors. Soon, Jake and Virginie’s adventurous dream turns into a terrifying nightmare. Now, it’s up to Danial to determine just how much truth there is in Virginie’s alarming tale. But when his crew make a shocking discovery, he realizes that if he doesn’t act soon, they could all fall under the dark spell of the island.

Deep Water

Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Vertigo, the author of the “subtle and ominous” (Lee Child) debut Deep Water returns with a wholly original and sinister novel about the beauty industry, a ghostwriter, and the reappearance of the lover she thought was dead. When Maddy Wight is hired to ghostwrite the memoir of world-renowned cosmetic surgeon Dr. Angela Reynolds, she thinks it might just be her chance to get her career back on track. She travels to Angela’s remote estate in the Scottish Highlands to hunker down and learn everything she can. But the deeper she digs, the more elusive the doctor becomes. Is there more hidden beneath the surface of the kaleidoscopic beauty industry than Angela wants to reveal? Sharing the estate is Angela’s enigmatic business partner, Scott, whose mercurial moods change as quickly as the conditions on the darkening moors outside. Confined to the glass-walled house, Maddy can’t shake the feeling of being watched. As objects go missing, handprints appear on the windows, and a stranger lurks in the grounds, she finds herself drawn ever closer to Scott. Returning to London once the book is finished, Maddy is excited for their future together. But her dreams are shattered at the book launch when Angela learns that Scott has leapt to his death from the Scottish cliffs. Which is why, months later and lost in a fog of grief, Maddy is completely blindsided when she sees Scott entering the Tube station just in front of her. It can’t be him, can it? After all, Scott is dead...or is he? In exploring the differences between looking and seeing, surface and depth, and the power of the female gaze, this tribute to Hitchcock’s 1958 film masterpiece asks: If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, how much can you trust what you see?

Eye of the Beholder

As a journalist for the Independent, Emma Bamford is swept along with the London rat race, lost amongst the egos of Fleet Street. Surrounded by budget cuts and bullies, the thrill of a breaking news story is no longer enough. And at 31, still struggling to get to a fourth date and surrounded by friends settling down to married life and babies, Emma decides to grasp her life by the roots and reclaim her freedom...by running away to sea and joining a complete stranger (and his cat) on a yacht in Borneo. Reflective yet humorous and self-deprecating, we share Emma's excitement and fear at leaving a good job for an unknown adventure, and join her as she travels to some of the most exotic places in the world and starts to realise what really matters in life. She discovers the supreme awkwardness of sharing a tiny space with total strangers, the unimaginable beauty of paradise islands and secret jungle rivers, glimpses lost tribes, works all hours for demanding superyacht owners, and has a terrifyingly near miss with pirates. Fending off romantic propositions from a Moldovan pig farmer and a Sri Lanken village chief amongst others, Emma finds adventure and happiness in the most unlikely places. From planning each day meticulously to learning to let go and leave things to chance, Emma's story shows that it is possible to break free and find happiness – and love – on your own terms.

How a City Girl Found Happiness on the High Seas

Casting Off

In Casting Off we met Emma Bamford. Stressed out and fed up with London life, working 80-hour weeks and with no hint of a love life, Emma suddenly decided to quit her job, pack up her life and go and live with a man she's never met, and his cat, on a yacht in Borneo. In Casting Off we followed Emma on her amazing adventures as she sailed the globe in search of something more. We laughed, we cried and we 'aaahhhh'ed. Untie the Lines picks up where Casting Off left off. There's love in the air in the form of Guy, the handsome sailor Emma met in Casting Off. Will they sail off happily into the sunset together? And there's an abundance of sailing adventure to be had in the USA and Caribbean too. But there are also difficult times, as we follow Emma's journey through more heartache and anguish, as she is forced to return to London, to her old, crippling life. Things spiral out of control until one day Emma, exhausted and suffering from anxiety attacks, just can't take a step further along the same path any more and she is forced to seek help and admit that it's time to change things once and for all. Untie the Lines is another thrilling, funny and absorbing installment of Emma's life. It's also deeply moving and will ring true with anyone affected by the stresses and fast pace of modern life and the battle between head and heart.

Setting Sail and Breaking Free

Untie the Lines

'Powered by a subtle, ominous tension. I loved this book’ LEE CHILD ‘Paradise never felt so sinister’ RUTH WARE Lies can be buried... Secrets always come to the surface Amarante is paradise... An uninhabited, unspoilt island somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Only those who know it exists can find it. But paradise comes with a price... Virginie and Jake sail to Amarante for their honeymoon, but they are not alone. They have to adjust to life on the island with five strangers. And not everyone will live to tell the tale… Dark secrets surface and their dream abruptly turns into a nightmare. Removed from society, they find out what they’re truly capable of. ‘An incredible debut’ B A PARIS ‘Suspenseful, evocative and beautifully written, I devoured it’ L V MATTHEWS ‘That most exciting psychological thriller in which the darkest dangers lurk in a suspicious mind and a guilty heart’ A J FINN ‘Gripping and pacy... A perfect summer read’ IMRAN MAHMOOD ‘A debut thriller that unfolds with the inexorable force of a nightmare, and an object lesson in why some paradises should stay lost’ JOHN CONNOLLY 'Deep Water had me gripped. I loved the subtle, sinister sense of tension that built through the book, and the fascinating cast of characters Emma Bamford brought together on idyllic Amarante. Such an accomplished debut' BETH O'LEARY

The next instalment of the sailing and travel adventures of Emma Bamford, author of the popular Casting Off.

Sun, sea and gorgeous sailors--the route to happiness, surely? After an early-mid-life-crisis, Emma leaves her highly stressed, fast-paced life as a journalist on the Independent for a sailing adventure and finds that it is possible to find fulfillment--and love--on your own terms.

Emma Bamford

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