To celebrate our Monthly Spotlight for February, The Sea by John Banville, we are giving you the chance to win a copy of the novel and a limited-edition Booker Prize tote bag.

A man attempts to escape a recent loss while confronting a trauma from a long lost summer, in John Banville’s haunting and evocative novel, which won the Booker Prize in 2005. 

Led back to Ballyless by a dream, Max Morden returns to the coastal town where he spent a holiday in his youth. The Grace family appeared that long-ago summer as if from another world. Drawn to the twins, Chloe and Myles, Max soon found himself entangled in their lives, which were as seductive as they were unsettling. What ensued haunts him for the rest of his years and shapes everything that is to follow.

The Booker Prize tote bags feature illustrations by the artist Iris de Moüy and are not available to buy anywhere.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply enter your details below by 12:00 GMT on Friday, February 28, 2025. This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world.

This competition is a free draw, with only one entry allowed per person, and we reserve the right to disqualify any entries where we suspect one person has used a number of different email addresses. Use or attempted use of any automated or other non-manual entry methods is prohibited. 

The draw is governed by our general rules for competitions, available here, but the following specifics also apply (and take precedence should there be any contradiction or ambiguity): 

• There will be one winner, selected at random from entries received by 12:00 GMT on Friday, February 28, 2025. Entries received after this time will not be eligible. 
• The winner will receive a paperback copies of The Sea (in its current U.K editions), and a limited-edition Booker Prize tote bag.  
• Entrants must be 18 or over, and we reserve the right to ask for proof of age at any point in the competition; prize-winners should be aware of the adult themes of the book, particularly if sharing it with other readers. 
• The competition is open to those resident in or outside the UK subject to the proviso that an entry is not eligible if it is from a resident in a country or jurisdiction where this free draw may breach any local law or regulation.    
• Winners will be notified by email no later than 12:00 GMT on Friday, March 7 and must promptly provide a fully operative postal address for delivery of their prize. If we have not received this within 7 days of us notifying a winner, we will have no obligation to deliver the prize and at our sole discretion, we may select a further winner to receive the prize concerned or simply decide not to give it.   
• We may in due course and at our sole discretion publicise the names of the winners and their location (in general terms, not specific addresses) on our website and/or social media channels and by entering the competition an entrant agrees to this publicity should they be a prize-winner. 
• We can only undertake to do what is reasonable in all the circumstances to deliver the prize to a location outside the UK. 
• Bearing in mind, among other things, the value of the prize itself in relation to cost of delivery, we reserve the right (and this is determined at our sole discretion) to ask a winner to provide an alternative address for delivery to a person/location where the cost is proportionate. 
• Winners are responsible for any taxes or duties they may have to pay in order to take receipt of their prize.
• We cannot ship to PO Box addresses; winners are required to provide a bricks-and-mortar/physical address for prize(s) to be dispatched to. 
• While we will aim to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the competition has closed, no responsibility can be accepted for entries delayed or lost.
• We are not responsible for any damage to the prize in the course of delivery; while we will consider a request for a replacement (if available) if the prize arrives in a seriously damaged state, this is solely in our discretion depending on the particular circumstances. 
• These terms and conditions are governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England & Wales, and the courts of England & Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation determining any question or issue in relation to them.