'I don't necessarily need to go to the sea. With you by my side, I can look at a bucket of water and feel perfectly content,' one friend writes to another in their autograph book. But a trip to the sea promises so much more, especially with the right company—and when it leads to places like the Bay of Naples (Elena Ferrante), the Pacific coast of Mexico (Lucia Berlin), southern Spain (Deborah Levy), or Sydney's city beach. The beach is a place to experience adventures, to open up, to find friends—but unfortunately, also to lose them. Because days by the sea can be dangerous when friends become rivals, as with Tessa Hadley or Doris Lessing. Or when, as with Kate Chopin, your best friend is powerless against the dark allure of the sea. In contrast, Tove Jansson tells an optimistic story of two women on a Swedish archipelago island who try out a form of togetherness that comes very close to true happiness. Book 2026 New