Penelope Fitzgerald’s Booker winning novel of 1979 is the story of a group of people living on boats in London on the Thames. There is Nenna who is separated from her husband, trying her best to raise two daughters alone. Richard was a captain in the navy, and since he knows about boats and is a well-organized person he has become the leader of these residents. Maurice’s business is storing illegal merchandise on his boat. Willis wants to lie about the leaks in his boat, so he can sell it and finally live on land.

Although I found Off Shore a nice read, I wouldn’t have chosen it to win The Man Booker Award. I read it because I had read Fonseca, a fictionalized story about a true incident in Fitzgerald’s life and was eager to try something written by her. I’m glad I read Off Shore but I’m not sure I’ll be reading any more works by Penelope Fitzgerald.