Front cover of A Merciful Sea by Katie Daysh, hardback

A Merciful Sea - Katie Daysh

Katie Daysh

£18.99
  • Pages · 336 pages
  • Publication Date · 27/03/2025
  • Genre · Historical fiction
Collect in store Pick it up free from the shop in Oxford's Covered Market, usually quicker than the post.
Delivery Standard tracked £1.99, free on orders over £20. Express tracked £2.99.
Book Lovers' Happy Hour Three cocktails matched to your taste, three books chosen for you, an hour and a half at the bar. £60 per person. Book a place →

An ocean divides them. Can their love survive the battles to come? Arthur Courtney is a commander without a ship and without purpose. So when old friend Captain Henry Harrison offers him a place onboard HMS Lion, bound to join Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean, he is eager for the opportunity. But onboard discipline has broken down; Harrison is not the captain he once was. Added to this, Courtney has agreed to a troubling deal in order to serve: marriage to Harrison's sister-in-law, Tabitha Sandham. He fears he will have to choose between his career and his love for Hiram Nightingale. In England, Nightingale's life is shaken by the death of his father and by the re-appearance of the Lion, the ship that caused him such pain. When threatening notes are received at his and Courtney's cottage on the Isle of Wight, he vows to find out the truth behind them. But it appears there is more trouble on the island than simply the threatening messages. So while Courtney defends the sea, Nightingale must help protect England's shores from calamity. A stunning and romantic historical adventure of the sea from the author of Leeward, a Times Historical Novel of the Year 2023. 'A fitting end to a wonderful trilogy' Antonia Senior, The Times

Only at Gulp Fiction

Book Lovers' Happy Hour

An hour and a half at the bar, with three cocktails matched to your taste and three books chosen for you. Tell us what you like when you book, and we'll have them waiting when you arrive.

  • 1½ hours
  • £60 per person
  • 3 cocktails, 3 books
Book Happy Hour

Up to four of you can come — book a place each and choose the same time slot, then tell us who you're with. For larger groups, email gulpfictionbooks@gmail.com and we'll arrange it.

Three customers at the window table in Gulp Fiction, cocktails in hand beside a stack of books, with Oxford's Covered Market visible through the glass

Collect in store

Order online and pick it up from the shop. It's free, and usually quicker than the post.

Find us

Units 28–29, Covered Market, Oxford OX1 3DU. Mon–Wed 10–5, Thu–Sat 10–10, Sun 11–4.

Book a table

The bar is open late Thursday to Saturday. Reserve a table for a drink among the books.