Fiction

Seas Outside the Reef

Second edition

Open Boat Editions · 2nd edition 2023 · first published 2000

Emilia de Soto comes to Key West to await her estranged husband’s arrival from Cuba and meets Harry, an American sailor. Their attraction forces a choice between a distant marriage and a new love.

The second edition carries a new introduction by Ros, written in Key West in November 2023. Cover watercolor by Susan Sugar; book design by Kim Narenkivicius.

Praise

What writers are saying

“Gratitude for Seas Outside The Reef – the best novel I have read about Key West”
Annie Dillard, author of The Maytrees and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

“In Seas Outside the Reef, Rosalind Brackenbury gives us sensuous romance, immigration intrigue, and authentic ship lore, all wrapped in the lushness of a Key West summer. Brackenbury's writing is so lyrical and vivid that we live in the oily heat and feel the storms coming toward us as she explores love and loyalty in this wonderful novel.”
Ann L. McLaughlin, author of Lightning in July

“Rosalind Brackenbury has a searching eye responsive to the sensuous quick of life and alert to the appetite for meaning and beauty in the human spirit ... As long as there are writers with Brackenbury's visionary flair exploring its possibilities, the novel will continue to have important things to say.”
Lindsay Clarke, Resurgence Magazine