What if the life you were promised was taken from you? What would you do to get it back?

Rhys lives in a coastal town in South Devon, where seasonal work dries up as winter storms hit, housing is hard to come by and livelihoods are threatened by distant bureaucrats. Life is much harder for Rhys and his two younger brothers than tourists can possibly know.

It is only when surfing that Rhys finds solace in the beauty around him: the crashing waves, towering cliffs and sandy beaches. But when that solace is taken, his tinder-dry rage is soon ignited. Determined to defend his family from a life blighted by social neglect and poverty, Rhys is drawn to Dodo, a radical political activist inspired by the Welsh protest group, Meibion Glyndŵr. Before long, Rhys' actions spiral out of control, with dire consequences for himself and those he loves.

Set in a coastal town and drawing on the author's own rural childhood, this YA / crossover novel explores how young people's futures are built – and defended – on shifting and uneven ground, where tides of tourism, gentrification and second-home ownership erode the traditional ways of life and financial stability of locals. Beautifully drawn characters, lyrical depictions of the natural landscape, brotherly love, family loyalty – and surfing. A powerful and thought-provoking summer read.

Garrard’s writing burns with the intensity of teenage emotions – The Observer

Tender and angry, salty and sweet… a heartfelt novel shaped by powerful undercurrents – Michael Morpurgo



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An important and powerful story of family, community and love

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A searing portrayal of loss, grief, challenges to masculinity in the modern world and the strength of friendship and sibling bonds... The reader is constantly on edge as the boys we are so invested in seem to be lurching towards a tragic conclusion and while there is no easy solution, what triumphs is the unshakeable familial love that brings them back from the brink. Original, heartwrenching and highly recommended.

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This book stole my heart, I loved the boys so much. But I also worried for them constantly and as the book progressed this worry intensified… I felt that I was truly there with them and I so much wanted to make things easier for them. Very happy to recommend to all teens and older.

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Nicola Garrard evokes fiercely and with skill young male lives unfolding in coastal shadows, battling outside forces with scant regard for their existence.

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Raw and lyrical, On the Edge dives into brotherhood, belonging, and a boy's fight to hold on.

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(On the Edge) had me fixed as soon as I read the first few pages, the story is powerful beyond measure... it just gripped me and held me in its grasp. I recommend it hugely and would say… ‘”Just buy it!”

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This is a gorgeously written novel whose characters leap off the page in all their messy, loving complexity. Vividly depicting the consequences of seaside gentrification, neglect, and inequality, it's angry, poetic, funny, and empathetic, and it demands that we see, and that we care. I'll be thinking of these characters for a very long time.

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The characters climb off the page and into your heart as you follow their journey about family, belonging and home. A beautifully written novel that will stay with you long after the last page.

"Written with such great compassion for her young characters,  Nicola Gerrard has the reader surfing atop a  wave of hope and familial love. Just beautiful!" - Author of 'The Inheritance'

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Immersive, haunting, atmospheric. Garrard's storytelling transported me to Devon