An Uncertain Shore

The narrator of 'An Uncertain Shore' returns to the coastal haunts of his youth after a traumatic bereavement, hoping to find solace for his grief by reliving elements of his past. He is soon forced to recognize all that separates him from those he once lived among, but he meets a woman painter and is drawn to her and her distinctive art, learning about her background and her ambitions and sharing with her the cause of his depression. He also becomes involved in the schemes of a maverick journalist, bent on defeating a shady corporation which threatens an ecological calamity in the region. The two new acquaintances intersect unexpectedly, with fatal consequences. But these events in turn prove the trigger for a revived campaign against the corporate menace, led this time by the painter and a woman from the narrator's past, who recruits a band of female militants with an unconventional approach to direct action.