The following edition of the text was used in the creation of this study guide: Wood, Benjamin. Seascraper. Penguin Random House, 2025. Kindle AZW file.

In 1950s Longferry, 20-year-old Tom Flett wakes at 5am to work as a shanker, trawling shrimp with a horse. He lives with his young mother, Lillian, who notes he is late for low tide. Over breakfast, they discuss money troubles and her evening plans, which will let Tom secretly practice his guitar. Tom prepares the cart and recalls learning shanking from his late grandfather. He is the last in town using the traditional method, while others use motor rigs, though Lillian urges him to modernize. Tom dislikes the work and dreams of performing music publicly. On the beach, his horse refuses to move after pulling up a rusty box. Inside, Tom finds a flare gun. He ends his workday, shelters from the rain, then sells his small catch at Rigby’s Seafood before heading home. On the way, he reflects on neighbors’ disdain for his mother, who bore him at fifteen.

At home, he finds her with a visitor, Edgar Acheson, who claims to be an American film director. Edgar offers Tom £100 to help scout locations for a movie, showing a magazine article as proof of his identity. Lillian is eager for him to accept, but Tom remains suspicious. Edgar explains his film, based on the novel The Outermost, about an undertaker in 1880s Maine who delivers a body to mysterious villagers; the dead return to life with new talents. His detailed description convinces Tom of his seriousness. Edgar offers Tom £100 in advance to guide him on the beach that evening. Tom, who had planned to play at the folk club, reluctantly agrees. Edgar writes him a check.

A flashback shows Tom’s grandfather Pop training him in shanking from age thirteen. After Pop’s stroke, Tom left school to work full-time. Pop resented Tom’s father, Patrick Weir, a teacher who got Lillian pregnant at fifteen and later died in the war. Though Tom wished to study and learn more about Patrick, Pop refused to discuss him. Tom remains grateful to Pop for raising him and teaching him about the dangers of the beach such as sinkpits.

Back in the present, Tom assures Edgar he knows where the sinkpits are. Inspired by Edgar’s career, Tom feels hopeful about making a life from his own artistic talent. Tom cashes Edgar’s check at the post office, served by Joan Wyeth, his friend Harry’s sister, on whom he has a crush. She mentions the folk club, but Tom says he cannot attend because he is working. He then visits a bookshop seeking The Outermost and books on film. Finding Edgar briefly mentioned in one, he fails to agree on a price and leaves. Back home, he practices guitar before hurrying to meet Edgar.

Tom waits for Edgar but is told by a staff member to meet him at the hotel instead. Denied entry to the bar because of his clothes, he waits in the lobby until Edgar arrives. Edgar lends him a personal copy of The Outermost. They head to the beach in Tom’s cart, Edgar drinking from a bottle and taking an inhaler which he claims is for ulcers. Tom imagines using the £100 for a motor rig and more time for music. Edgar sketches passionately and speaks of making art over profit, though he becomes increasingly incoherent from drinking. At the sea, Edgar films while Tom rides the horse into the water. On turning back, Tom loses sight of Edgar in the fog. Hearing no reply to his calls, he fires the flare gun and follows a faint cry. Tying string to the cart, he sets out on foot but instead falls into a sinkpit, sinking and calling for help.

Trapped in a sinkpit, Tom is rescued by a mute pregnant woman in a motor rig who takes him to a pub called The Fogbell. Upstairs, he meets a guitarist who reveals himself as Patrick Weir, Tom’s father. Patrick insists he has guided Tom’s life, including his music, and offers to teach him if he stays. Tempted but conflicted over leaving Lillian, Tom resists. Patrick grows angry, and Tom hears a voice urging him to breathe. Tom wakes on the beach as Edgar pulls him from the sinkpit. Edgar leads him back to the horse, and they return to the hotel. That night, Tom plays the tune his father had performed and writes lyrics celebrating his life as a seascraper. He falls asleep.

Tom wakes at home, where Lillian sees his guitar and lyrics. She misreads the song as resentment toward her, while Tom insists it expresses gratitude. They argue about Patrick, whom Lillian remembers fondly but insists was not musical. She warns music won’t pay the bills. Realizing he is late to meet Edgar, Tom rushes out.

At the hotel, Tom is greeted not by Edgar but by an elderly woman, Mildred Acs: Edgar’s mother and author of The Outermost. She explains Edgar was once a brilliant director but became addicted to Benzedrine, leaving him unstable and prone to false promises and doomed projects. She warns Tom his check will bounce and offers to pay him herself, but Tom refuses, wanting only to thank Edgar for the time they spent together. Outside, Mildred shows Edgar at a window, restrained by her employee Stephen. Edgar mimes filming before being pulled away from the window, leaving Tom feeling uneasy. Mildred asks Tom to arrange returning Edgar’s car to her home. Tom suggests involving his friend Harry, and Mildred writes her address in The Outermost. They part.

Tom then visits Harry’s house, where only his sister Joan is home. Over tea, he tells her about Edgar and the car. Joan offers to drive it south instead of Harry. She encourages him about music and helps dry out The Outermost. Tom records his song Seascraper on Harry’s tape machine. Joan is impressed and urges him to share his talent. After she leaves, Tom replays the recording.