A Teignmouth Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) volunteer has penned a novel based on the true story of a woman who devoted her life to saving lives at sea.

Jason Mann, who writes as J.H.Mann, was inspired to write his latest novel, ‘The Silver Tide’, after hearing about a fisherman’s daughter who devoted her life to sea rescues after seeing her father and three brothers die in a summer storm.

Margaret Brown established her community’s first lifeboat after losing her loved ones to rough seas in 1874. She took part in rescues for more than 50 years and was often seen hauling the vessel into the surf and recovering it after missions.

‘I heard about Margaret Brown’s tragic and brave story while volunteering for the lifeboat service and was immediately captivated,’ said Jason. ‘I realised it could form the heart of a powerful novel.’

While Jason’s novel is completely fictional, it was inspired by real events and real people. ‘One significant difference is that ‘The Silver Tide’ is set in Cornwall whereas Margaret Brown’s story took place much further north in the Northumberland fishing village of Cresswell,’ Jason points out.

In ‘The Silver Tide’, the protagonist, Maggie Pascoe, is left destitute after losing her family to the sea. However, the tragedy is no accident.’It’s a story of love, betrayal and one woman’s fight for justice,’ Jason explained.

‘The Silver Tide’ is set at a fascinating time in Cornwall’s history,’ Jason said. ‘The book is named after the vast silvery shoals of pilchards that brought great wealth to Cornwall each summer and autumn. A 28-foot lugger of the type mentioned in the novel could catch up to 30,000 pilchards in a good night of fishing. Even more effective was seining which typically involved three boats working together with large nets. In 1851, off the coast of St Ives, a pilchard seine-net was estimated to have captured sixteen and a half million fish, weighing in at 1,100 tons. Sadly, even the huge fish stocks of the Atlantic had their limits and by 1930 this once-great industry had all but vanished.’

Jason’s previous novels, ‘The Echoing Shore’ and ‘Hidden Depths’, have won awards in the UK and the United States. Earlier this year, Jason won the Selfies Adult Fiction Award at the London Book Fair for his Cornish mystery ‘The Echoing Shore’

Jason who volunteers as part of the shore crew at Teignmouth Lifeboat Station, paid tribute to the many organisations and people who have provided help and advice for ‘The Silver Tide’, including the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth, the RNLI and the Met Office’s Meteorological Library and Archive.

‘The book involved a great deal of research and so I am hugely grateful to the many people and organisations who willingly gave their time,’ Jason pointed out. ‘Their excellent advice helped me bring an authenticity and accuracy to the story which otherwise would have been impossible.’

‘The Silver Tide’ is available now on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats. The book cover was produced by MiblArt, a Ukrainian company based in Lviv.