{"product_id":"9781398549159","title":"Under Water : Shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2026","description":"\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2026A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK�A VOGUE BEST DEBUT 2026`Profoundly moving'�Elif Shafak`Stunning' Sunday Times'A wonderfully heartfelt debut' Marie-Claire`Writing is pristine. Brava, Tara Menon,�this is a beauty!' Elin Hilderbrand (on Instagram)A stunning and deeply moving novel of grief, loss and female friendship, set against the backdrop of two cataclysmic�natural�eventsWhen 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.   `The horrors of 2004 are told with verve in this debut about a woman haunted by survivor guilt . . . there are stunning descriptions of island wildlife . . . Tara Menon tells the story with confidence and style' Sunday Times____Readers love Under Water`A beautiful read. Haunting and visceral and profound, magical and tragic, but mostly very, very well written'`I loved it'`This is writing of the highest order and it will reward focussed reading. Definitely one of this year's best reads so far'`Highly, highly recommended'`Beautiful and devastating'`I loved this, even though it made me cry!'`The best books change my perception, bring something I thought I knew into a different light. This is one of those'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rye Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55732284621176,"sku":"9781398549159","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0064\/1368\/0730\/files\/9781398549159.jpg?v=1794281028","url":"https:\/\/ryebooks.co.uk\/products\/9781398549159","provider":"Rye Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}