J. Meade Falkner

Context:

Mentioned as one of the primary books shaping the public's romanticized image of smuggling. Published in 1899, it is set in Dorset on Chesil Beach. Alex Preston passionately defends it as 'an absolute cast iron masterpiece' and 'a beautiful, beautiful novel,' praising its ending as extraordinarily moving with 'LP Hartley-esque nostalgia for a golden age.' He pushes back against a listener who said studying it at GCSE ruined smuggling for them.