2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (longlist)
2026 Libby Award for Best Science Fiction (nominee)
2025 Nero Book Award for Fiction (shortlist)
The breathtaking new novel from Ian McEwan
‘A thumping literary mystery’ Independent
‘A gripping page-turner’Observer
‘A beautiful novel, full of wisdom and heart. I loved it’ Elif Shafak
2014: A poem is read aloud once then vanishes without a trace.
2119: A century later, the seas have risen and the world is under water. Those who remain are haunted by what’s been lost – and what might still be found.
When university scholar Tom Metcalfe stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, he reveals a story of entangled love and a brutal crime that challenges everything he thought he knew about the past…
READERS LOVE WHAT WE CAN KNOW:
‘Fantastic…a book I will treasure forever’
‘Brilliant, gripping, fascinating’
‘Makes you question everything you think you know’
‘A beautiful exploration of memory and love’
‘What a book. Utterly absorbing’
‘Rewarding and thought-provoking’ Financial Times
‘A master storyteller’ The Times
‘It gave me so much pleasure’ New York Times
‘Haunting, playful and ultimately hopeful… A wonderful book’ Kaliane Bradley
*A BOOK OF THE YEAR for the Sunday Times, Guardian, New York Times, New Statesman, Spectator, New Yorker, i Paper and Barack Obama*
Genre: Science Fiction
‘A thumping literary mystery’ Independent
‘A gripping page-turner’Observer
‘A beautiful novel, full of wisdom and heart. I loved it’ Elif Shafak
2014: A poem is read aloud once then vanishes without a trace.
2119: A century later, the seas have risen and the world is under water. Those who remain are haunted by what’s been lost – and what might still be found.
When university scholar Tom Metcalfe stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, he reveals a story of entangled love and a brutal crime that challenges everything he thought he knew about the past…
READERS LOVE WHAT WE CAN KNOW:
‘Fantastic…a book I will treasure forever’
‘Brilliant, gripping, fascinating’
‘Makes you question everything you think you know’
‘A beautiful exploration of memory and love’
‘What a book. Utterly absorbing’
‘Rewarding and thought-provoking’ Financial Times
‘A master storyteller’ The Times
‘It gave me so much pleasure’ New York Times
‘Haunting, playful and ultimately hopeful… A wonderful book’ Kaliane Bradley
*A BOOK OF THE YEAR for the Sunday Times, Guardian, New York Times, New Statesman, Spectator, New Yorker, i Paper and Barack Obama*
Genre: Science Fiction
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