Signals of Distress

"With beguiling narrative ease and prose lyric . . . a quiet tale of strangers thrown together by caprice . . . [who] find their lives are unintentionally and irreversibly linked." —New York Times Book Review
Signals of Distress tells the story of an American emigration vessel grounded off the coast of England in the 1830's. While the Belle of Wilmington waits to be refloated, the isolated community of Wherrytown offers what hospitality it can to the crew, but the Americans prove to be a disturbing presence.


A brilliantly imagined historical fiction about emigration, dislocation, and the price of liberty, this novel confirms Crace's reputation as an extraordinarily gifted writer.


"An engrossing book . . . Crace is a genius at making round and really human characters, and his characters make his novel superb." —Newsday

"One of the brightest lights in contemporary British fiction . . . Mr. Crace . . . lays bare the commonplace events—always unrecorded—that crystallize later as 'history.'" —Charles Johnson, The New York Times Book Review

"Crace weaves a progressive magic into this mythic plot with masterful detail, luminous prose and haunting characterization." —The Boston Globe

"Engrossing . . . with his usual dexterity, Crace has evoked the time, place and characters with an astute and ironic eye . . . This novel about people dislocated from their milieu fixes a mesmerizing grip on the reader's imagination." —Publishers Weekly

"Crace has once again succeeded at creating a community far removed from our everyday world . . . and making it real, vivid, and indelible. The result is a quiet, thoughtful work that pulls the reader in powerfully. Highly recommended." —Library Journal