This poetic novel follows lives and struggles across generations under the constant dance of the sea birds in the English resort town of Blackpool.   The old Victorian pier of Blackpool has stood the test of time, carrying each generation over a cold and relentless sea. As the starlings swoop and glide in mesmerizing patterns over the stalwart structure, they watch the lives of those who pass beneath: people absorbed in their human dramas, following their own arcs of striving and despair.   From the mid-1800s to the present day, Robert Lock’s Murmuration follows two scandalous comedians born a century apart; a seemingly ageless deckchair attendant; a fortune-teller who believes no one can see the future; as well as others who’ve been drawn to the possibilities of this seaside town. But here, too, is a man who knows that the only way to stop history from repeating itself is to solve a mystery as old as the pier.