Under Water

A stunning and deeply moving literary debut about grief, loss, and female friendship, set against the backdrop of two catastrophic natural events.

When six-year-old Marisa loses her mother, her father takes her to a small Thai island in the Andaman Sea. There, she forms a profound friendship with Ariel, and together they explore the wonders of the forests, reefs, and beaches. Holding their breath for minutes at a time, they learn to dive into the depths with the ease and harmony of the manta rays they come to recognize by name. However, when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami strikes the shore on the day after Christmas, they are swept away by the first wave and separated.

Eight years later, Marisa is living in New York City. Her days are spent wandering the streets and parks, and her nights are spent seeking solace in the beds of strangers. As the city prepares for a devastating storm, Marisa reflects on her past and searches for a way to move forward in an uncertain world.

Underwater is a story of friendship and grief, but also of environmental change and natural disasters. The novel is a meditation on loss, a tribute to our dying oceans and forests, and a love letter to the world’s vanishing coral reefs.