The Outermost House

Naturalist writer Henry Beston chronicles a year of life alone in a small cottage on the dunes of Cape Cod's outer beach, facing the open Atlantic. He had not meant to stay long in the house, which he named the Fo'castle because on its dune it felt like a ship at sea, but the place held him. His account follows the seasons through migrating seabirds, tides and surf, the winter beach and the stars over the dunes, and includes a meditation on breaking surf called The Headlong Wave. Published in 1928, it was later credited by a Massachusetts governor as one reason the Cape Cod National Seashore exists, and the cottage became a National Literary Landmark in 1964.

It is one of the titles Richard Branson chose for his World Book Day list of 65 books for a lifetime.