The Edge of Somewhere

Wall Street trader Sam Dawson has everything figured out, until the Outer Banks pull him out of his own time and into 1903. Stranded on Pea Island, he finds himself among the station's all-Black crew of surfmen, who risk their lives in the breakers to pull strangers from the sea.

As storms batter the coast and the crew answers the call again and again, Sam finds a courage his old life never asked of him, and a love that could tie him to 1903 for good. But the longer he stays, the harder it becomes to know whether he has been given a second chance or is losing his hold on the life he left behind.

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The Pea Island Life-Saving Station stood on a lonely stretch of the Outer Banks, where the surfmen watched for ships in trouble and rowed out into storms to save their crews. In 1880, Richard Etheridge became its keeper, the first African American to lead a station in the U.S. Life-Saving Service, and Pea Island became known for one of the finest crews on the coast.

In October 1896, during a hurricane, the Pea Island surfmen carried every person aboard the schooner E.S. Newman to safety through the surf. A century later, in 1996, the crew was honored with the Gold Lifesaving Medal.

The character Henry Pembroke was shaped by Robin's 35 years of work alongside people with disabilities, written with the dignity and authenticity they deserve.

Robin T. Baker is a Virginia writer and lifelong surfer whose love of the Outer Banks goes back decades. After more than 35 years leading nonprofits serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Robin brings deep care for overlooked lives to this debut novel.

Robin is available for signings, talks and book club visits.

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