sun country

Published by Bloomsbury on June 4th, 2026

'Quietly and modestly, Howard Cunnell has established himself as one of Britain’s most distinctive and trustworthy voices and with his latest memoir he’s taken another step clear of the pack. Sun Country is a bracing swim through a sea of grief and bewilderment. Few write as well about origins and fealty and fewer still offer such a vision of bruised and dogged love. This is a beautiful book'.
Tim Winton, author of Juice

A beautifully written and deeply moving journey from sorrow to acceptance, from loss to hope, shimmering with coastal light and hard-won wisdom.

In Sun Country, Howard Cunnell returns to the southern England beachlands of his boyhood after the death of his mother.

A love letter to the changing coast and sea, Sun Country is a reckoning with the things we inherit, silence and absence, stories told and untold and the transgression involved in turning a life into art.

At the heart of the book is Gillian, Cunnell's devoted single mother, and the small yet unforgettable details of her life that are woven into a powerful meditation on impermanence, art, class and home.

Writing his way home to a place, to a culture and to himself as an artist, Cunnell's descriptive power reaches a new breathtaking level, with the simplicity that only comes from the finest craft and poetry.

Publicity enquries please contact: jonny.coward@bloomsbury.com