Permanence

by Sophie Mackintosh

From one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, the critically acclaimed author of the speculative dreamscapes The Water Cure and Blue Ticket, comes the story of a clandestine affair and an alternate city designed to foster it…

Clara and Francis are in love, but nobody knows it. For months they have been stealing away from their respective lives, leaving no trace of their relationship behind. Their time together is always excruciatingly sweet and all too short. Until one day they wake up in an apartment neither of them recognizes, with no memory of how they got there.

The Other City is a self-contained sanctuary where adulterers live openly as couples. Here there are fountains and old town squares and perfect cafes with checkered tablecloths. Ripe fruits wait on the counter each morning, invisible threads bind each lover to the other, and their primary responsibility is to enjoy one another. Contact with the real world is impossible and the city’s whims are mysterious—but now those stolen afternoons can last forever.

How much would you sacrifice for a life you never thought possible? And how long can you stay in paradise before the cracks start to show?

An exploration of desire, novelty and choice, Permanence explores the tantalizing quandary of what, if anything, can withstand the daily toll of “forever”?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Drama, Literary Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 2, 2026

About the author

Sophie Mackintosh was born in South Wales in 1988, and is currently based in London. Her fiction, essays and poetry have been published by Granta, The White Review, The New York Times and The Stinging Fly, among others. Her short story ‘Grace’ was the winner of the 2016 White Review Short Story Prize, and her story ‘The Running Ones’ won the Virago/Stylist Short Story competition in 2016.

Sophie’s debut novel The Water Cure was published by Hamish Hamilton in the UK in Spring 2018 and by Doubleday in the US in early 2019 to critical acclaim, and was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Her second novel Blue Ticket will be published in Spring 2020.

Reviews

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A departure from Mackintosh's usual hazy, clinical writing, Permanence is a more accessible story than her trio of previously published works. We follow the pair of lovers, Francis and Clara, as they navigate their illicit affair and the complications of secrecy. When they awake in an idyllic city where they can finally be together, they are forced to reckon with their past and the trajectory of their relationship.

Permanence doesn't offer particularly likable characters (Francis especially), but I think most readers will relate to Clara in some capacity. How we cling to relationships that no longer serve us is often rooted in naivety, insecurity, or lust, and I think her character arc embodies each of these three themes well. The concept of the novel is unique and has a lot of potential, but selfishly, I wish it were explored in other facets or from different perspectives. I never warmed up to either Francis or Clara entirely, but perhaps that was the point.

Despite my critiques, I did really adore the setting and how it evolved alongside our narrators; the literal fracturing of the rooms they inhabit, the lustre fading, and the disorienting nature of the city they can never quite figure out. I'm not quite sure how to describe the writing other than very visual, and it's superbly done.

Like always, Sophie Mackintosh has beautiful prose and offers the reader a lush, immersive backdrop to the novel. I think this will be the most commercially palatable of her novels, but I found myself wanting more of the depravity and ambiguity I've come to love in her writing. By no means a bad read, but not quite the usual caliber I've come to expect from one of my favourite writers. Regardless, a solid book I'd recommend for musings on lust and compromise.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for the ARC! Permanence releases April 21st, 2026.

[Vmndetta (V) ᛑᛗᛛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i can see that Mackintosh's writing is beautiful and the concept of this book is original. never have i ever read something like this. but—why not many things actually happens? i just got bored. i didn't like how it went, i only wished the two of them would get into some real conflict to make it more exciting. because honestly, nothing much happened. nothing really stood out.

rounded up. one bonus star for the original concept, but other than that, meh. and why are people so obsessed with books with no quotation marks? do they know it actually takes more effort to read them? 😭 tiring.

thank you netgalley for the copy of this book.

[Y · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story had a hazy quality, especially the alternate city in the beginning, and the characters seemed sketched in rather than fully realized. I think the lack of characterization and building up of the core relationship is what bothered me most; the story hinges entirely on the illicit relationship of Clara and Francis, and yet I saw very little of what drew them so strongly together, I just could not get invested. Yes, the page count is short, but there was a lot of repetition that I think could have been replaced with more character development.
The concept of the alternate city is interesting, but I could not relate to the characters being so in lust/love that they often preferred it over the real world that contained everything else in their lives besides their affair.

[Marz Hare]

I'm grateful to this book because it unlocked an interesting reflection and conversation about DNFing.

Now, that might sound harsh as a start, so I'll go over my experience reading this book up to about the 50% mark first. This is just my experience so YMMV as per usual.

Me DNFing Permanence:


PROS
* It's quite nicely written, certainly has the dreamy, unreal vibe down
* The characters were realistic. They could have been my neighbours, or people I'd walk past in the street. They were (very) flawed, and that was reflected in their relationship
* The concept - a "dream town" of sorts for adulterers - was very interesting

CONS
* I'm sorry, I'm bad at putting up with head-hopping and lack of punctuation in dialogues. Sure, it can be read and understood. But did we need to...?
* The characters were insufferable. I mean, most likely intentional and probs to be expected when I said they were realistic, right? I have read and enjoyed books that followed obnoxious and despicable characters reaaaally close up (Yellowface comes to mind). But these two were somehow annoying enough that I couldn't stand being in their heads for long stretches of time
* Slooooooooooooooooooow paced. Nothing against slow-paced books. But when a short book like this takes forever to get through, and feels like you're making little to no progress, you know there's a problem.

Now, that problem might be with me (and probably is). I put down this book on Saturday, and was unable to pick it up in the two days after that. The mere idea of reading a few pages was unbearable. And that's how I knew that it was time to DNF.
I was resisting it because I intended for this book to be a bit of a foray into literary fiction, which I don't read much of, and I wanted to see it through to the end.
But at the end of the day, I read for fun. I have many other hobbies and not enough free time for everything I'd like to do as it is (probably like everyone else here).
It suddenly struck me that life is short, too short to waste time on a book I'm not enjoying, or even on a book I feel "meh" about, when I already want to read a lifetime worth of books.
I could die tomorrow, and I don't want to die reading 'Permanence' (or maybe I do, that title would be kind of ironic xD) which feels like self-imposed homework.
Don't you worry though, I shall continue to hate-read until I either get bored of it or evolve as a person, whatever happens first :D
And with that said, let this be one of many proud DNFs to come! Some with reviews, some without, but that list is gonna grow. And so is the 5* list!
So go DNF those meh books with me. Don't suffer through them.

[Sarah Harney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for an ARC of Permanence.

This was a unique book with very beautiful writing. I did sometimes struggled to stay engaged because there wasn't a lot of action in the storyline, which instead focused more on the characters' private feelings. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an atmospheric, contemplative read.

3.5 stars

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, this is for people who enjoy mostly vibes/relationship development, minimal plot. There was a really interesting concept in there, but mostly this book is about the way Sophie Mackintosh can transport you to a setting or to the emotional state of her characters.
I agree with other reviews wishing there was more exploration into some aspects of the story, but I did mostly enjoy it.

[Eileen KM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie Mackintosh’s Permanence is a fable about the dilemma of choice and its consequences. She separates the setting of an affair into its own world, where the adulterers have what they have been wishing for: freedom, times, and no commitment. The city challenges the adulterers perspective of entitlement, forcing choice and punishment for their actions.

I’m very interested to see others perspectives on this novel once it’s released, I’m sure there is so much that could be unpacked here!

Honest review in exchange for NetGalley ARC

[Ronnica Fatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Sophie’s writing is gorgeous and sucks you in to world you learn little about. Through a “city of impermanence” our couple having an affair explores what everyday life would be like if they could live openly. Themes of “what ifs”, regret, and longing are strong, as well as an exploration when each partner has different desires.

Thank you Avid Reader press for the review copy.

[Miranda Norman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers for an e-ARC of this story through Net-Galley!

This story was simultaneously so underwhelming, while also finding a way to make me so so angry, which honestly feels like a perverse kind of accomplishment.

For a book that is less than 250 pages, this felt like a good 400+ pages, just because -nothing fucking happens- and most of it is abstract word soup, a la This is How You Lose the Time War. So many words, but nothing was said. It felt like trying to read through fog, catching glimpses of anything happening while wading through the inner monologue of two irredeemably unlikeable people. The same decisions were made and the same fights were had and the same "walk around town holding hands" was shown time and time again, which amounted to a frustrating, cyclical, and ultimately pointless story. I could even overlook the omission of quotation marks as a quirky stylistic choice if there was anything else to latch on to.

Nevermind the fact that the FMC is 12+ years younger than the MMC (which you aren't even told, you have to use context clues to come up with that number) feels predatory and just plain icky, especially considering how often Clara referred to herself as a "girl" in regards to when they met while he is a full-fledged professor. We never learn just how old they were, but it is implied she is very young/immature, so for the sake of not being gross I'll assume she is 18-20, which makes him 30-32. On top of that, their entire attraction to each other is purely physical / sexual, which a) adds to the icky factor but b) highlights just how shallow the characterization is, with them as individuals and their relationship as a pairing. Clara has zero life outside of being obsessed with Francis, and Francis barely gives half a shit about Clara at any given time. Both are pathetic in their own eye-rolling ways.

Ultimately, I just don't understand what this story was trying to tell me. That's not to say every book needs a lesson to be taught, but there needs to be some semblance of "what did I gain by reading this", and for a book marked as Literary Fiction (which I admit I seldom read), I expected some degree of a takeaway, something I could chew on and think about. The message, if you could distill the nothingness of this book down to one, felt like "cheating is fine and you always want what you can't have" and I fundamentally don't understand why this needed to be written, nor do I agree with that idea at all.

Don't even get me started about how the logic of this world doesn't make a lick of sense (the "devoted" ones that never leave, do they not exist in the real world anymore? Are they just floating through life on autopilot? Does no one miss them at all?) and I would like to grant it a pass for that, but since the book's first genre mark on GR is Fantasy, it feels like a fair complaint to have.

In some abstract way I can see how some people could vibe with this story, but damn I was not one of those people. If you want the vibes of what this story set out to do, but just generally /better/, I recommend Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake.

[Remi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*thank you to netgalley and avid reader press for this arc in exchange for an honest review*

Permanence is a story about a clandestine affair between clara and francis, a family man with a wife and daughter, who gets to escape into a dreamlike city where adulterers live openly, free of baggage. for francis, it’s paradise because he gets to enjoy clara without feeling too guilty or afraid of being caught. for clara, it’s initially a dream come true too… until she realises she will never fully have him. he will always belong to his family first.

that’s the thing about affairs: they thrive on longing, on absence, on the thrill of stealing time. but once it becomes a possible reality, it’s not paradise anymore. negative emotions creep in—resentment, disappointment, and the cracks begin to show. and honestly? francis just comes across as the type of man who would always want both lives, who would always keep one foot out the door. clara, meanwhile, wants him all to herself, but deep down she knows if she ever really had him, he’d probably bail.

the writing is beautiful—silky, clean, and painterly, like reading a pastel painting. i loved the atmosphere: haunting, claustrophobic, melancholy. but the concept itself felt a little shallow, skating over the surface rather than really digging deep.

still, it’s an intriguing, slippery novel about longing and dissatisfaction, about how we can never be fully satisfied, even in the so-called ‘perfect’ world.

ps. i had just finished Piranesi before this, which probably made Permanence feel lighter by comparison.

best accompanied with:
- someday or one day, a drama
- illicit affairs by taylor swift

[W.S. Luk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Click here for my full review. Thank you to Penguin for sending me a copy of this book.

“In the city there was time for all of this, and more. Time for the ordinary, to which we normally give little value…”

There’s something creepy about hotels. They try so hard to feel like home, inviting you in with comforting decor and chocolates on the pillows, but all this effort only makes it stranger to wake up seeing an unfamiliar ceiling.

And what if you left your room, and found an entire city like that? Sophie Mackintosh’s upcoming novel PERMANENCE takes place in an unreal universe, where the sky is dazzlingly blue and newspaper headlines read “True Love Persists!” and paintings change between visits. It’s a seemingly perfect city, one you can inexplicably wake up in—if you’re having an affair.

Two lovers, Clara and Francis, arrive in this city of adulterers, where they can enjoy each other’s company without fear. Mackintosh’s prose balances sensuality (“…the flowerbeds voluptuous with poppies, the salmon pink of a tiny stone folly sandwiched in a sunny corner…”) and a minimalistic approach to exposition, keeping our attention on how the city changes the couple. Even its lack of speech marks, a pet peeve of mine, helps accentuate its sense of uncanniness.

“Every beautiful thing said, You have been right to live like this,” Clara thinks as they relish each other’s company. But every utopia has its darker side, coming through in the fairytale-like rules that govern their stays...

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie Mackintosh always delivers a book that makes me think (and think hard) about whatever topic she decides to write about, and this book is no different.
The topic of this book is love within adultery and how one can not always differentiate between love, loneliness and want.
Francis and Clare are in love, with one another, but Francis has a wife and daughter that he loves as well. One day when they wake up, together (which is strictly forbidden within the parameters of their relationship) in an apartment, in a city that they have never been to, both Clare and Francis are shocked but ultimately thrilled to spend all their time together, without any consequences. But as the saying goes, the grass is always greener, and pretty soon Clare and Francis will see that maybe they don't really love one another but maybe they just want one another.
Mackintosh dives into heavy topics with grace and ease and I have a feeling I will be thinking about this book and the idea of permanence for a long time.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

[Chaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautifuly written thought experiment on the nature of love, illicit love, and the impermanence of relationships. It explores how life can come between two people, change them and their circumstances, and how longing can sometimes be superior to fulfillment. The novel reminded me of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn." The battle is between perfect but static beauty (here, love) on the one hand, and imperfect, decaying but fulfilling real life on the other.

Please, publishers, I beg of you, cease the abhorrent practice of not using quotation marks for dialogue. WE ARE BEGGING YOU

[Sam Rude · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve yet to come across a Sophie Mackintosh character who I fully root for but she seems to write them all with such compassion (empathy for their situation) that I’m always drawn to in to their story. Permanence follows Clara and Francis and as much as I want them to stay apart forever their brief journeys to the impermanent city were where the book came alive. As always, I enjoyed Mackintosh’s prose and simply enjoyed the way she tells a story. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this after reading Sophie Mackintosh’s Cursed Bread, a favourite of mine, and that may have contributed to my overall disappointment with Permanence. This novel feels like quite a departure from Mackintosh’s usual style, her writing is still beautiful, but for me it lacked the hazy, dreamlike quality I loved in her earlier work.

With unlikeable characters, minimal characterization, and little build-up for the central relationship, I found it hard to stay engaged. While the themes are interesting and the concept original, the story ultimately fell a bit flat for me.

[Jenna (readinginjennaland) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was completely intrigued by the synopsis—so much so that I immediately dropped my other reads to start this one. My excitement quickly dissolved when I realized the book utilized unconventional dialogue formatting (specifically, no quotation marks). My brain immediately hit a wall! Despite my best efforts to push through, I quickly became bored and lost all momentum. I haven't been motivated to pick it back up. With a substantial backlog of ARCs waiting, I'm learning to be okay with DNFing books that don't capture my attention right away.

[Niamh De · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much, I couldn’t put it down! Such an interesting concept again from this author!