Habits of the Sea
A Novel
Table of Contents
About The Book
The night Clay Lockhart’s wife dies, a violent storm tears their home—and the eight hectares of land beneath it—away from the Scottish coast, sending it adrift into the Atlantic. Thirty years later, twelve-year-old Ellie Mills discovers the fabled floating island off the coast of Nova Scotia and finds Clay still living in the weatherworn farmhouse perched on its highest hill.
When the island vanishes overnight, Ellie is left questioning whether it ever existed at all. But decades later, the island resurfaces—and Ellie, now in her thirties, returns, determined to uncover the truth. What she finds is even stranger: Clay hasn’t aged a single day.
Faced with the impossible, Ellie learns that some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved—and that a life shaped by wonder may hold more promise than one bound by certainty.
With her signature atmospheric, lyrical prose, Shea Ernshaw offers us an original work of folklore with a masterful modern touch. A haunting tale, Habits of the Sea spans centuries and coastlines, journeys through time and memory, and redefines the very meaning of love itself.
About The Author
Shea Ernshaw is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Wicked Deep, Winterwood, A Wilderness of Stairs, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, and A History of Wild Places. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and repeatedly chosen as Indie Next Picks. She lives in a small mountain town in Oregon and is happiest when lost in a good book, lost in the woods, or writing her next novel. Visit her online at SheaErnshaw.com.
Product Details
- Publisher: Atria Books (July 7, 2026)
- Length: 304 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668097786
Raves and Reviews
"Ernshaw (A History of Wild Places) crafts a haunting tale of love, time, and climate anxiety. Fans of Matt Haig’s How To Stop Time and Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore will be entranced.”
—Library Journal
"[An] intimate gothic drama...This love story has grit, complexity, and a core of darkness under a patina of wildness and freedom."
—Shelf Awareness
“In Habits of the Sea, Shea Ernshaw has crafted an exquisite map of the human heart as vast and unpredictable as the Atlantic itself. If you’ve ever felt anchored to a place that no longer exists, this magical book is for you. Find a quiet corner to read, and let the tide come in."
—Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author
"This salt-swept tale of love and folding time is as vast and mesmerizing as the sea, with a dazzlingly ambitious final sequence you’ll want to talk about with everyone. Shea Ernshaw is the queen of storytelling that is as haunting and dreamlike as it is intimate and grounded, occupying both richly realized landscapes and the mysterious terrain of the human heart." —Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood series and The Children
Praise for A History of Wild Places
"A richly embroidered tapestry deepens in hues as the story turns darker. Readers will sink into this one, and although they might question details of the resolution, they will be moved by the novel's power."
– Booklist
“Dark and atmospheric, A History of Wild Places is a twisting, engrossing delight. Ernshaw’s skillful mix of mystery, psychological thriller, and paranormal-tinged drama keeps the ground shifting beneath her characters and readers. What a wonderful rabbit hole to fall down.”
– Erika Swyler, author of Light From Other Stars and The Book of Speculation
"An entirely enthralling novel, a true history of a world that pulls the reader into its depths. It is darkly rich in its setting, and its visual, visceral, and absorbing moments are both haunting and rewarding to the reader.”
– Phoebe Wynne, author of Madam
“As spine-chilling as it is beautifully crafted, A History of Wild Places will have you compulsively checking your pulse and the whites of your eyes. It will almost certainly make you reconsider that walk in the woods, or at least, compel you to leave a trail of breadcrumbs in your wake.”
– Ruth Emmie Lang, author of Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
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Book Cover Image (jpg): Habits of the Sea
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Author Photo (jpg): Shea Ernshaw Photograph by Sky Pinnick(0.1 MB)
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