As a writer one of my biggest preoccupations is the stories we tell ourselves, the narratives we invent in order to feel good about ourselves, or at least, in order to survive. The human mind is a narrative driven machine, it looks for meaning, it is hardwired to find narrative structure. It is one of the reasons storytellers have held such sway over us for all this time, and why the media is such a powerful force in society. Control the narrative, and you control the masses.

It’s also one of the reasons why I was so drawn to Horatio Clare’s new book, We came by sea. …