Under Story
The dazzling new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Immortalists
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
Book
Hardback
512 pages
978-1-0354-3738-2 (ISBN)
Description
'Rapturously beautiful. I was in awe' Kaliane Bradley
'An epic love story, wondrous, wildly ambitious' Ann Napolitano
'Utterly transporting, both breathtaking and profound' Clare Leslie Hall
'I read it in a fever dream. A vividly human story' ***** Reader Review
'Under Story is dazzling, it will change you' Emilia Hart
'A sci-fi love story full of intrigue and tenderness' Claire Fuller
'Heartbreaking and mind-bending, I couldn't put it down' ***** Reader Review
'Stunning and moving and ludicrously inventive' Bobby Palmer
WHAT IF TOMORROW WAS ALREADY WRITTEN, BUT YESTERDAY WAS YOURS TO CHANGE?
At an isolated research station in Antarctica, biologist Laurel Salter washes dishes for a living ten hours a day, six days a week. She tells no one why she left her career, or why her marriage ended.
But even in this remote outpost, Laurel can't outrun her past. When a strange light appears across the ice and draws a group of physicists to McMurdo, her former husband, Eli, won't be far behind.
Laurel is captivated by the Arc: its surreal glow; the way it seems almost alive. And though Eli is reluctant to test her wildest theory, Laurel is convinced that the Arc leads down a rabbit hole, and into a world they can barely imagine. Can she persuade him to risk everything to fix the burden that hangs between them - to turn back the clock and live their story a second time?
And this time, live it differently.
Once read, never forgotten, Under Story is a genre-defying exploration of the promise of this life, what might lie beyond it, and how far we would go for more time with the people we love.
'An epic love story, wondrous, wildly ambitious' Ann Napolitano
'Utterly transporting, both breathtaking and profound' Clare Leslie Hall
'I read it in a fever dream. A vividly human story' ***** Reader Review
'Under Story is dazzling, it will change you' Emilia Hart
'A sci-fi love story full of intrigue and tenderness' Claire Fuller
'Heartbreaking and mind-bending, I couldn't put it down' ***** Reader Review
'Stunning and moving and ludicrously inventive' Bobby Palmer
WHAT IF TOMORROW WAS ALREADY WRITTEN, BUT YESTERDAY WAS YOURS TO CHANGE?
At an isolated research station in Antarctica, biologist Laurel Salter washes dishes for a living ten hours a day, six days a week. She tells no one why she left her career, or why her marriage ended.
But even in this remote outpost, Laurel can't outrun her past. When a strange light appears across the ice and draws a group of physicists to McMurdo, her former husband, Eli, won't be far behind.
Laurel is captivated by the Arc: its surreal glow; the way it seems almost alive. And though Eli is reluctant to test her wildest theory, Laurel is convinced that the Arc leads down a rabbit hole, and into a world they can barely imagine. Can she persuade him to risk everything to fix the burden that hangs between them - to turn back the clock and live their story a second time?
And this time, live it differently.
Once read, never forgotten, Under Story is a genre-defying exploration of the promise of this life, what might lie beyond it, and how far we would go for more time with the people we love.
Reviews / Votes
A rapturously beautiful novel. I was in awe of Chloe Benjamin's universe-straddling imagination, her profound writing on love and grief, and her telescopic vision that lets her zoom into the smallest chambers of the human heart and far out again into the laws of theoretical physics. I loved Under Story * Kaliane Bradley, Sunday Times Bestselling Author of The Ministry of Time * Under Story is phenomenal, and one of the best books I've read in years. Wondrous, wildly ambitious, an epic love story that I'm so grateful exists in the world * Ann Napolitano, New York Times Bestselling Author of Hello Beautiful * Under Story is a spectacular novel. It is utterly transporting, with an imaginative scope that feels both breathtaking and profound. I was blown away by it * Clare Leslie Hall, Sunday Times bestselling author of Broken Country * A fiendishly clever, utterly original novel that gets to the heart of what it means to be alive. Under Story is dazzling, it will change you * Emilia Hart, Sunday Times bestselling author of Weyward and The Sirens * A mind-bending, head-popping sci-fi love story full of intrigue and tenderness * Claire Fuller, Author of Our Endless Numbered Days and Hunger and Thirst * Count on Benjamin to ask the big questions-what makes a life worth living? What is the nature of time? Where do we belong?-and entertain us fully all the while. Cannot wait to read... * Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Reads 2026 * Under Story is a book that contains multitudes. Stunning and moving and ludicrously inventive, it's a remarkable feat of imagination. I've never read anything like it, and I won't soon forget it. * Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg and Main Characters * The best book I have read in years, a brilliant speculative novel * Gillian McAllister, multi-million copy bestselling author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time * A head spinning novel, daringly imaginative. Even as she plays with physics and fantasy, Chloe Benjamin has much to say about the nature of friendship, family, mortality and love * Geraldine Brooks, author of A Year of Wonders * Chloe Benjamin is a time-bending, heart-breaking, head-spinning writer who has conjured an entire parallel universe to illuminate one family's loss. Under Story is the most imaginative novel I've read in a long time, and yet its scenes depicting the ordinary joys and sorrows of parenthood, marriage, and friendship are perhaps most magical. This speculative masterpiece has only one flaw: at 500 pages, it's much too short * Anthony Marra, author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena * Masterful, original, and powerful. Chloe Benjamin's Under Story is a mind-blowingly clever novel that packs an emotional punch. You'll be pressing copies into the hands of everyone you know * Lucy Clarke, author of The Castaways * I read books for a living and this is hands down the best thing I've read in 2026. A complete freaking masterpiece * Jordy Moblo, Jordy's Book Club *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0354-3738-2 (9781035437382)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Chloe Benjamin
Under Story
The dazzling new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Immortalists
E-Book
approx. 09/2026
Tinder Press
€11.99
Not yet available
Person
Chloe Benjamin is the author of The New York Times bestseller The Immortalists, and The Anatomy of Dreams. The Immortalists was a Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly and NPR Best Book of 2018. Her work has been translated into 30 languages. She lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay area.