Under Water
'Stunning' Sunday Times
Published on 12. March 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-3985-4916-6 (ISBN)
Description
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
BBC CULTURE 'BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026'
A VOGUE BEST DEBUT 2026
'Profoundly moving' Elif Shafak (on Instagram)
'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
A 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.
BBC CULTURE 'BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026'
A VOGUE BEST DEBUT 2026
'Profoundly moving' Elif Shafak (on Instagram)
'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
A 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.
Reviews / Votes
'A novel of remarkable delicacy and power, Under Water is about grief, friendship, home, and longing. Menon writes exquisite sentences, sensual and particular, each containing an entire world.' Katie Kitamura, author of Audition and Intimacies'Reading Under Water is like being under water: immersive and stirring, pellucid and mysterious, shot through with light and with shades, overwhelming and exquisite-in a word, sublime.' Namwali Serpell, author of The Old Drift and The Furrows
'A quietly beautiful novel, Under Water is a remarkable achievement. With admirable restraint, Tara Menon has written something extraordinary: intimate, sublime, stirring. Reading Menon's book is itself like being under water, submerged in the longing and the grief of a friendship torn apart. Hers is a singular voice. I can't wait to see where she'll go next.' Kasim Ali, author of Good Intentions and Who Will Remain
'Tara Menon beautifully evokes the intensity of a young woman's lost friendship, and the extraordinary natural world - on land and in the ocean - in which that friendship was forged. Under Water, in equal measure compelling and heart wrenching, is a remarkable debut.' Claire Messud, author of This Strange Eventful History and The Emperor's Children
'The underlying themes of this debut novel could hardly be more relevant' Guardian
'Meditative' Daily Mail
'A moving story about friendship and grief' Closer/Heat
'Her descriptions of the infinite, complex beauty of life beneath the waves and the ocean's fragile ecosystem crash brutally against the horrors of the days and weeks following the tsunami, and Marissa's own fragile hold on her sense of self and purpose since underscore both. A deftly told and wonderfully heartfelt debut.' Marie Claire
'Two disasters shape this haunting debut novel. The first is the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, when two children, Marissa and her best friend Arielle, are engulfed by the waters and swept apart. Picking up years later in New York, as the country awaits Hurricane Sandy's arrival, the novel depicts Marissa as a lost soul. An emotionally visceral story, from an Indian-born novelist, it brings together a story of personal trauma and grief, Under Water shows human tragedy mirroring environmental disaster, as the natural world, especially our oceans and forests, comes under intolerable strain.' Herald Scotland
'Menon's dynamic debut...is sure to pull at the reader's heartstrings.' Publishers Weekly
'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'
'A powerful read about friendship and loss' Good Housekeeping
'We count this as one of the most impressive debuts of 2026 . . . expertly realised, like the ocean this tale of friendship and loss is as profound as it is powerful . . . magnificent' Sunday Post
More details
Edition
Export/Airside
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
286 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3985-4916-6 (9781398549166)
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
Book
approx. 02/2027
Simon & Schuster Ltd
€13.00
Not yet published
Person
Tara Menon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Harvard University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Nation, Paris Review and Public Books, where she co-edits the Literary Fiction section. Tara was born in India, grew up in Singapore, spent a decade in New York, and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.