Under Water by Tara Menon

A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK?BBC CULTURE?`BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026'A VOGUE BEST DEBUT 2026`Compelling and heart wrenching, a remarkable debut' Claire MessudA stunning and deeply moving literary debut of grief, loss and female friendship, set against the backdrop of two cataclysmic?natural?events. When six-year-old?Marissa loses her mother,?she is taken by?her father to live on a small Thai island in the Andaman Sea. There,?she?forms a deep friendship with Arielle and?together they explore the fragile wonders of its?forests,?reefs, and beaches. Holding their breath for minutes at a time, they learn to dive into the deep, as effortlessly synchronized as the manta rays they come to know by name.?Then, on Boxing Day 2004, when the Indian Ocean tsunami makes landfall, they are swept up by the first wave and separated. Eight years later,?Marissa is living?in New York. She?spends her days wandering through the city and her nights seeking solace in the beds of strangers. As the city prepares for a devastating storm, Marissa reflects on her past and learns how to sustain herself in a precarious world. Under Water?is a story about friendship and grief, but also ecological change and natural disasters. It is a meditation on loss, a tribute to our dying oceans and forests, and a love letter to the disappearing coral reefs. `A remarkable study of grief, set against the backdrop of ecological disaster.' The New World `Books to Look Out for in 2026'`A beautifully written novel of grief, friendship and the natural world' Mail on Sunday `Books to Look Out for in 2026'
Binding: Hardback