In 1988 the Piper Alpha oil platform off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, exploded killing 167 men. The Waves Burn Bright is a deeply affecting, sensitive portrait of its devastating aftermath on one family. Carrie Fraser is 16 when the disaster occurs, her father Marcus, one of the survivors. As the narrative moves between past and present we learn that the trauma blows open existing fractures, tearing the family apart. In adulthood, Carrie, now a respected volcanologist, is returning to Aberdeen, having spent many years abroad, to deliver an academic paper. She and her father are estranged, partly due to his post-traumatic stress and related alcoholism, a legacy of Piper Alpha. Will a reconciliation be possible or will the aftershocks of a tragedy that occurred 25 years before continue to drive father and daughter apart? "This novel deserves a wide readership. It will resonate with anyone who remembers the night of Piper Alpha; with anyone suffering PTSD, for any reason; with those trying to love them and live with them; with those trying to treat them; and with those more generally interested in understanding this area of human experience. It is also simply a compelling and highly engaging story, told with insight and compassion." Alison Miller, author of Demo "A cauldron of a book, bubbling with anger and magma which might at any moment spill over and bring further devastation. It is both particular to this tragedy in 1988, but also universal; a compelling story exploring how a father’s trauma sends shock waves through a family, changes the pattern of lives – particularly his daughter’s – and makes love risky. However, as well as being about damage and running away, it is also about healing." Linda Cracknell, author of Call of the Undertow and Doubling Back