Finally she ended up among billionaires, working as a stewardess on a superyacht in Italy. She found herself hunting for elephants in the jungle, visiting deserted islands and running from pirates. Then, in her early 30s and bored with this ‘fairly normal life’ she’d created for herself, Emma took a career break and, despite protestations from friends and family, answered an advert on the internet for ‘crew wanted’ and flew to Borneo to live on a boat with a man she had never met and his cat. There was some serious and hard-hitting journalism in there for a fair few years, too. Fleet Street beckoned and highlights of her career as a reporter and news editor include asking F1 driver Jenson Button what his favourite toasted sandwich filling was, quizzing the incumbent Home Secretary on his preferred kind of cheese (spot a pattern?) and peeing in Bruce Forsyth’s downstairs loo. After studying English Literature at Southampton University and Newspaper Journalism at UCLan, she started work as a cub reporter for the Bicester Review and then the Derby Evening Telegraph, cutting her journalistic teeth interviewing organisers of local fetes and grilling parish council members. She had a fairly normal life to begin with, growing up with her younger brother and sister under the watchful eyes of her parents in Lincoln and Nottingham.

But when his crew make a shocking discovery, he realizes that if he doesn’t act soon, they could all fall under the dark spell of the island.Įmma Bamford is an East Midlands-based author and journalist who has worked at The Independent and Daily Express and most recently as News Editor of the i newspaper. Now, it’s up to Danial to determine just how much truth there is in Virginie’s alarming tale. Soon, Jake and Virginie’s adventurous dream turns into a terrifying nightmare. When they arrive, they discover they are not the only visitors and quickly become entangled with a motley crew of expat sailors. They start at the busy harbors of Malaysia and, through word of mouth, Jake and Virginie learn about a tiny, isolated island full of unspoiled beaches. Months earlier, the couple had spent all their savings on a yacht, full of excitement for exploring the high seas and exotic lands together. Trembling with fear, she reveals their shocking story to Danial. On board the yacht is a British a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. The dark side of paradise is exposed when a terrified couple reveals their daunting experience on a remote island to their rescuers-only to realize they’re still in the grips of the island’s secrets-in this intense and startling debut in the tradition of Into the Jungle and The Ruins.

Patricia highsmith novel deep water