This was a little harder to read, but I believe that is more a me problem than an author problem. This is not a typical read of mine, even if the topic is of interest to me. Netgalley requires a review, or I would leave it unrated.

A memoir of an Irish surfer's relationship with the sea, her spirituality and her own body, including illustrations from her artistic practice. I appreciated the parts reflecting on ecology, the folklore and language of the author's native Ireland and how they connect with other traditional cultures around the world, but overall I found this disppointing. The frequent descriptions of surfing and swimming experiences often felt interchangeable throughout the book, and for me it worked neither as a life narrative (e.g. Liptrot's The Outrun) or a loosely connected collection of essays (eg Braiding Sweetgrass, which is quoted). My overall sense was while there are moments of great writing, and some really important ideas about our humanity's relation to water, this needed a lot of restructuring, editing, and work on storytelling, to be enjoyable as either a memoir or as creative non-fiction.

Saltwater in the Blood is a unique and wonderful book that combines spirituality, creativity, and athleticism. Easkey Britton is an Irishwoman who learned to surf in the cold, wild water off the coast of Donegal. Both her parents and extended family had been in love with surfing for decades and it never occurred to Easkey that surfing was considered a male sport. As a child she became fascinated with all experiences inspired by the sea - the poetic and artistic, the physical and psychological connection, and the scientific study of the water itself and the creatures that live within it. Britton earned a PhD in marine studies and participated in many research projects. But beyond the academic exploration of the ocean, the author remained captured by her early sense of oneness with the sea. She began to equate its cycles with those in her own body, and her spirituality became attuned to the rhythms of the tides.
Barron began to travel in search of more challenging and larger waves to surf, beginning with a trip to Hawaii at age thirteen with her mother. She eventually surfed in California, Newfoundland, Iran, and many other countries. She has surfed competitively, even taking on giant waves that require being towed out by a jet ski beyond the surfline.
Dr. Britton is an artist, an athlete, a scholar, and a student of all expressions of the feminine in nature and in humanity. This is a marvelous book that should appeal to a wide variety of readers.