William Blake & The Sea Monsters of Love

'A great artist of whom almost nobody had heard'




A new strange and alluring book on the reverberating influence of William Blake, from the award-winning author of Leviathan and Albert and the Whale



Weaving together fragments of artists’ stories across time and place, Philip Hoare embarks on a Sebaldian exploration of the enduring legacy of William Blake.


A poet, painter and printmaker who was unappreciated and considered mad in his own time, Blake was eventually lauded as a key pillar of the Romantic movement. His posthumous influence reverberates endlessly, from the work of Paul Nash and Derek Jarman to our ongoing anxieties around technological advancement. Reassessed as a visionary and mythical inspiration to many, Philip Hoare unspools the web of artists, writers and cultural icons who came after him.


A poetic odyssey that crosses into history, memoir and art, William Blake & The Sea Monsters of Love traces a long line of interconnected creative minds while always returning to the haunting genius of William Blake.