Final Word

This week's Final Word comes from an author who, 21 years ago, did nothing to help assuage the anxiety of nervous seaside swimmers:

"The fish faded from view. But, kept from sinking into the deep by the bobbing barrels, it stopped somewhere beyond the reach of light, and Quint's body hung suspended, a shadow twirling slowly in the twilight. Brody watched until his lungs ached for air. He raised his head, cleared his eyes, and sighted in the distance the black point of the water tower. Then he began to kick towards shore."

The winner of last week's competition, who identified H. G. Wells's The Time Machine , is Mike Hughes of Ormskirk, Lancashire.