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Permanence
Not yet published
Expected 21 Apr 26From 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”?
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”?
240 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2026
About the author
Sophie Mackintosh
18 books1,051 followersSophie 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
October 7, 2025
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.
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.
March 6, 2026
My god, this is excellent. On the surface, Permanence is a story about an affair, but it’s really asking a bigger question: in a world where romantic love is supposed to be everything, could it ever actually be enough on its own? I think we all know the answer (or at least we should).
The novel follows Clara and Francis, two lovers whose relationship exists entirely in secret: hotel rooms, carefully managed lies, and the constant need to return to their real lives.
But one day they wake up together in a strange city populated entirely by other adulterous couples. Suddenly their relationship can exist out in the open, without hiding. At first it feels like a dream come true. But the city shifts and changes depending on the state of their relationship, and when one of them hurts the other, the aggressor receives a physical wound. What begins as fantasy slowly starts to feel more like a trap.
Books like this almost always get my attention. I love stories that explore what people are willing to sacrifice for even a sliver of happiness—and whether the other person is willing to sacrifice the same. Clara, in particular, feels recognizable in the way she clings to a relationship that isn’t really serving her, driven by longing and the hope that love might somehow be enough.
The writing is dreamy and immersive, and the shifting city becomes the most fascinating part of the story—beautiful at first, then increasingly unsettling as the fantasy of permanence begins to unravel.
It's a meditation on desire, memory, and the strange consequences of getting exactly what you think you want.
The novel follows Clara and Francis, two lovers whose relationship exists entirely in secret: hotel rooms, carefully managed lies, and the constant need to return to their real lives.
But one day they wake up together in a strange city populated entirely by other adulterous couples. Suddenly their relationship can exist out in the open, without hiding. At first it feels like a dream come true. But the city shifts and changes depending on the state of their relationship, and when one of them hurts the other, the aggressor receives a physical wound. What begins as fantasy slowly starts to feel more like a trap.
Books like this almost always get my attention. I love stories that explore what people are willing to sacrifice for even a sliver of happiness—and whether the other person is willing to sacrifice the same. Clara, in particular, feels recognizable in the way she clings to a relationship that isn’t really serving her, driven by longing and the hope that love might somehow be enough.
The writing is dreamy and immersive, and the shifting city becomes the most fascinating part of the story—beautiful at first, then increasingly unsettling as the fantasy of permanence begins to unravel.
It's a meditation on desire, memory, and the strange consequences of getting exactly what you think you want.
April 5, 2026
Sophie Mackintosh always leaves me a little disoriented in the best way. Permanence is no exception.
February 13, 2026
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.
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? 😭
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? 😭
Did Not Finish
October 24, 2025I'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.
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.
September 25, 2025
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.
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.
March 30, 2026
Sealed off, secret, sharpened by the knowledge that it shouldn’t survive— there’s always something intoxicating about the things we can’t have. This novel is a door to charged spaces: Clara and Francis stealing hours from thin air, building something fragile and electric in the margins of reality and a dream. And those margins collapse into a strange, self-contained city where pairs live openly and shamelessly together, the fantasy arriving fully formed— no more hiding, no more leaving. Just desire, uninterrupted. And no where left to go.
But the novel is less interested in indulgence than in what indulgence costs. The city offers a seductive type of devotion— routine as intimacy, pleasure as obligation— until the very thing that once felt urgent begins to calcify. What happens when longing is given everything it asked for? Mackintosh understands that desire thrives on absence, on risk, on balance, on the possibility of loss, and she lets that tension build beneath every carefully rendered detail. The result is a love story that feels both lush and claustrophobic, like something too beautiful to touch without consequence.
What you’re left with is the question the book refuses to soften: how much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to sustain a feeling? There’s an aching brutality in the answer. This is a novel of seduction, you included, dear reader. Imperceptibly, the narrative tightens its grip, revealing permanence not as promise, but as a kind of beautiful, irreversible mistake. Yearn at your own risk.
But the novel is less interested in indulgence than in what indulgence costs. The city offers a seductive type of devotion— routine as intimacy, pleasure as obligation— until the very thing that once felt urgent begins to calcify. What happens when longing is given everything it asked for? Mackintosh understands that desire thrives on absence, on risk, on balance, on the possibility of loss, and she lets that tension build beneath every carefully rendered detail. The result is a love story that feels both lush and claustrophobic, like something too beautiful to touch without consequence.
What you’re left with is the question the book refuses to soften: how much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to sustain a feeling? There’s an aching brutality in the answer. This is a novel of seduction, you included, dear reader. Imperceptibly, the narrative tightens its grip, revealing permanence not as promise, but as a kind of beautiful, irreversible mistake. Yearn at your own risk.
February 6, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, unfortunately had to DNF around 35%. Author has written some beautiful paragraphs and the concept I found intriguing. But the formatting just didn’t jive with me. The lack of quotation throughout made my brain feel like it was working harder for some reason.
April 9, 2026
I knew from the premise that I would love this book and feel it to my core; and I did, I loved it and felt it to my core
November 17, 2025
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
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
September 24, 2025
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
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
December 9, 2025
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.
I agree with other reviews wishing there was more exploration into some aspects of the story, but I did mostly enjoy it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.5
I ate this up and I hope it pulls me out of my slump moving forward.
The writing is so dreamy and I loved putting the pieces together to understand the alternate world they are inhabiting. I also found myself writing down quotes almost constantly, I wish this wasn't an arc just so I could write some of them here to share since Mackintosh's writing really hit me over and over again (in the best way possible).
Both Clara and Francis are not really likable, though Clara is more so I think and the choice to have her as the main character with the most internal dialogue was a great choice. It in some ways deepened the irredeemable qualities that she had but also gave a window into those qualities and why she acts the way that she does. She really just felt like someone in the wrong place or situation and couldn't get herself out of it. Francis on the other hand, I really enjoyed the exact amount of his thoughts and feelings I had access to, it also made him irredeemable, but all of his choices were more solid and filled with betrayal compared to Clara, especially in those scenes we get of his wife and daughter. I love when characters get to know themselves better through their story arc and I think this was definitely the case for Clara. Both characters felt so tangible, even if the world they were inhibiting didn't and that is great writing.
I am giving this 4.5 stars instead of 5 for no specific reasons, just vibes, but I do think that if I was to read this again, it very well may turn into 5 stars.
I definitely would recommend, even if you are weary of the cheating aspect, as I don't think it is truly as important to the story as I thought it would be. I don't know how else to explain it, but this story is so complicated in many ways that the cheating itself takes a backseat, and I think that is the best case scenario.
Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster, Avid Reader Press, and Netgalley for offering and providing me an advanced, free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
I ate this up and I hope it pulls me out of my slump moving forward.
The writing is so dreamy and I loved putting the pieces together to understand the alternate world they are inhabiting. I also found myself writing down quotes almost constantly, I wish this wasn't an arc just so I could write some of them here to share since Mackintosh's writing really hit me over and over again (in the best way possible).
Both Clara and Francis are not really likable, though Clara is more so I think and the choice to have her as the main character with the most internal dialogue was a great choice. It in some ways deepened the irredeemable qualities that she had but also gave a window into those qualities and why she acts the way that she does. She really just felt like someone in the wrong place or situation and couldn't get herself out of it. Francis on the other hand, I really enjoyed the exact amount of his thoughts and feelings I had access to, it also made him irredeemable, but all of his choices were more solid and filled with betrayal compared to Clara, especially in those scenes we get of his wife and daughter. I love when characters get to know themselves better through their story arc and I think this was definitely the case for Clara. Both characters felt so tangible, even if the world they were inhibiting didn't and that is great writing.
I am giving this 4.5 stars instead of 5 for no specific reasons, just vibes, but I do think that if I was to read this again, it very well may turn into 5 stars.
I definitely would recommend, even if you are weary of the cheating aspect, as I don't think it is truly as important to the story as I thought it would be. I don't know how else to explain it, but this story is so complicated in many ways that the cheating itself takes a backseat, and I think that is the best case scenario.
Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster, Avid Reader Press, and Netgalley for offering and providing me an advanced, free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 17, 2026
4.25/5⭐ - Speculative literary fiction readers: this book is for you!
(Thank you Avid Reader Press for the ARC, all thoughts are my own)
The first thing I was struck by was Mackintosh’s prose - romantic and descriptive without being verbose. Thought-provoking and mystical without being pretentious. Constantly blurring the lines between grounded realities and metaphysical existences left me feeling like I was in limbo with both of the characters, anxiously waiting for the inevitable.
Permanence follows Clara who is having an affair with a married man named Francis. They never get to be truly together, always sneaking away in hotels and leaving no evidence of their courtship, until one day they wake up together in a city unknown to them. In this city, ever adapting to their moods and no connection to the ‘real’ world, Clara and Francis are given everything they ever wanted, to finally be together… right? Having to hurt one another to leave and long for each other to return, the couple explores what true desire feels like, why they continue this affair and Clara specifically discovers the propulsive need for real connection.
While this novel is very character/relationship driven, which is not really my speed and therefore reflects in my rating, I found the author’s writing to be incredibly dynamic and infatuating. I liked that we didn’t need to explore every practical crevice of this magical city of cheaters and rather let the driving force be created from Clara and Francis’s compulsion for each other. This novel does not romanticize affairs but rather provides a cunning exploration of how they occur, what keeps them driving, and ultimately how they often will never be ‘enough’.
I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, and will definitely be turning into Mackintosh’s future work!
(Thank you Avid Reader Press for the ARC, all thoughts are my own)
The first thing I was struck by was Mackintosh’s prose - romantic and descriptive without being verbose. Thought-provoking and mystical without being pretentious. Constantly blurring the lines between grounded realities and metaphysical existences left me feeling like I was in limbo with both of the characters, anxiously waiting for the inevitable.
Permanence follows Clara who is having an affair with a married man named Francis. They never get to be truly together, always sneaking away in hotels and leaving no evidence of their courtship, until one day they wake up together in a city unknown to them. In this city, ever adapting to their moods and no connection to the ‘real’ world, Clara and Francis are given everything they ever wanted, to finally be together… right? Having to hurt one another to leave and long for each other to return, the couple explores what true desire feels like, why they continue this affair and Clara specifically discovers the propulsive need for real connection.
While this novel is very character/relationship driven, which is not really my speed and therefore reflects in my rating, I found the author’s writing to be incredibly dynamic and infatuating. I liked that we didn’t need to explore every practical crevice of this magical city of cheaters and rather let the driving force be created from Clara and Francis’s compulsion for each other. This novel does not romanticize affairs but rather provides a cunning exploration of how they occur, what keeps them driving, and ultimately how they often will never be ‘enough’.
I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, and will definitely be turning into Mackintosh’s future work!
March 31, 2026
I went into Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh expecting atmosphere (I mean, look at the cover), and it delivered. This is a novel where the prose does the heavy lifting in the best possible way. It’s beautiful, magnetic, and compelling, even when the characters themselves resist easy affection, and not much happens in the plot (like, at most, they have dinner together, or go to a weird parade).
Clara and Francis are not especially likable (Francis in particular was a tough hang), but they feel real. Mackintosh captures something precise and uncomfortable: the way we can recognize ourselves in both sides of a relationship. Her descriptions of their relationship is where the book is at its strongest.
The more overt symbolism didn’t always work for me. The city’s literal transformations—like the wall splitting in their room as the relationship fractures—felt a bit heavy-handed, as did the Dorian Gray-ing of the mouse painting. And while there are hints of a broader social structure in the city (for example, the dynamics between the “devotionals” and the “tourists”), those threads never fully develop.
But ultimately, that is beside the point. This isn’t a plot-driven novel or a fully-realized attempt at world-building. Instead, it’s a study of people and relationships, and on that level it succeeds.
Thank you to the publisher and Tertulia for the advance copy.
Clara and Francis are not especially likable (Francis in particular was a tough hang), but they feel real. Mackintosh captures something precise and uncomfortable: the way we can recognize ourselves in both sides of a relationship. Her descriptions of their relationship is where the book is at its strongest.
The more overt symbolism didn’t always work for me. The city’s literal transformations—like the wall splitting in their room as the relationship fractures—felt a bit heavy-handed, as did the Dorian Gray-ing of the mouse painting. And while there are hints of a broader social structure in the city (for example, the dynamics between the “devotionals” and the “tourists”), those threads never fully develop.
But ultimately, that is beside the point. This isn’t a plot-driven novel or a fully-realized attempt at world-building. Instead, it’s a study of people and relationships, and on that level it succeeds.
Thank you to the publisher and Tertulia for the advance copy.
April 16, 2026
Welcome to Eden for cheaters! Everything is perfect and, better still, your love is no longer a dirty secret. The only way you can fall back to the real world (and to that nagging wife you hate) is by being a dick to the person supposedly love. Easy, right? So, imagine my surprise when Mr. I-can-only-get-it-up-if-I-can-feel-superior-to-the-much-younger-woman-I’m-stringing-along starts ruining their newfound life together!
Maybe lived experience of an affair would make me more compassionate. As it stands, this just feels like a frustrating narrative of a pissy, hypocritical man and a girl who really should know better than to stay with him. When she does leave, I had very little patience for the descriptions of her aching and the pain flaring up like a broken bone.
Maybe lived experience of an affair would make me more compassionate. As it stands, this just feels like a frustrating narrative of a pissy, hypocritical man and a girl who really should know better than to stay with him. When she does leave, I had very little patience for the descriptions of her aching and the pain flaring up like a broken bone.
January 21, 2026
4.5/5
Well I LOVED this one and gobbled it up. Unlike anything I’ve ever read!! Thanks so much to Penguin for my copy!
Well I LOVED this one and gobbled it up. Unlike anything I’ve ever read!! Thanks so much to Penguin for my copy!
April 11, 2026
Wow! I haven't been moved by a book so much in a long time! I'll be back to write my thoughts once I have recovered...
April 12, 2026
RTC. Gonna need 10 business days to process this one.
February 2, 2026
Sophie Mackintosh continues her run of interesting speculative fiction with her newest Permanence. What would happen if there was another world you and your affair partner could live in separately from the real world? Francis and Clara meet in an art gallery and have an immediate attraction. Francis is married with a child, while Clara is single but they feel a strong pull towards one another. They wake up together in a separate world where adulterers can live openly as couples. Everything is ideal in the world, though Clara and Francis do not know how they got there and they cannot contact the outside world. This book interrogates the idealistic relationship that these two have, while cracks begin to show even in this idyllic world. When they return to their regular world, how do they look upon the separate world? It is a thought provoking book on lust, choice, and doubt. Mackintosh delivers again!
Thank you to Avid Reader Press for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
Thank you to Avid Reader Press for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
November 20, 2025
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.
Thank you Avid Reader press for the review copy.
January 21, 2026
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.
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.
November 19, 2025
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.
April 15, 2026
Probably my least favorite Sophie Mackintosh, but it’s Sophie Mackintosh so it’s still going to be beautifully written. I never felt totally bought into Clara and Francis’ relationship, mainly because Francis was mostly a jerk. Also a little repetitive at points — yes, I understand that the city deteriorates along with their relationship — but still a worthwhile read. What can I say, I love Sophie Mackintosh and her weird, otherworldly books, even when they don’t quite work for me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’m more confused than anything about how I’m supposed to feel about this book. Exasperation? Second-hand embarrassment? Wanting to yell “get a grip” at the characters? I just don’t get it. While I initially started this book, I felt like maybe this was going to be an anti-hero type situation where you’re reading characters that you don’t exactly agree with morally but their actions seem justified. But I didn’t feel that at all with this. In fact, I felt like I was reading a book with no protagonists and that made this extremely difficult to get through.
“Permanence” follows Clara and Francis, a couple “forced” to keep their relationship a secret. They steal away any time they can, until one day, they wake up in a new city, knowing absolutely no one, with no friends or family from their lives to judge them. In this new city, they can be together and risk nothing. The book follows their relationship as they are forced to choose between each other or the comfort of their old lives.
I could not wrap my head around how Clara and Francis’s relationship functioned at all. All Clara does is wait at Francis’s beck and call and puts her whole life on hold just to be this man’s dirty little secret. He doesn’t even treat her well like I don’t understand. She was pathetic and he was stupid and mean. Any time they were apart, all Clara is thinking is “omg I miss him even though he hurt my feelings on purpose” and he occasionally thinks about her when he remembers to. How am I supposed to be invested in a relationship like that? All this book was was a literary interpretation of those videos you see on TikTok of girls being like “my boyfriend forgot my birthday and doesn’t clean and actually doesn’t even want to hold our kid but I love him so much like you guys just don’t see him the way I do he’s so sweet”. At that point you’re doing this to yourself and I no longer feel bad for you. Even the ending made me a bit upset because I was finally thankful that one of them grew a spine only for it to pan to ten years later and we’re back to the same old thought process. There were so many ways for them to navigate their relationship troubles, but instead they chose the most harmful, most emotionally fraught option they could’ve picked.
Some parts of the book also vaguely felt like a bit of a horror novel with how some of the city’s residents acted and that never fully gets explained which was another problem that I had. We meet all these characters in the city and all of their personalities, despite hypothetically being other real couples that are now in this city, are hinged on the stability of Clara and Francis’s relationship. Maybe I just read it incorrectly or missed something, but I felt like the city as a whole was just not fully fleshed out.
I just can’t in good conscience say that I enjoyed this book. Was it quick? Yes. Was it extremely frustrating? Also yes. I wouldn’t really say that this book is something I would recommend, which is unfortunate.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
“Permanence” follows Clara and Francis, a couple “forced” to keep their relationship a secret. They steal away any time they can, until one day, they wake up in a new city, knowing absolutely no one, with no friends or family from their lives to judge them. In this new city, they can be together and risk nothing. The book follows their relationship as they are forced to choose between each other or the comfort of their old lives.
I could not wrap my head around how Clara and Francis’s relationship functioned at all. All Clara does is wait at Francis’s beck and call and puts her whole life on hold just to be this man’s dirty little secret. He doesn’t even treat her well like I don’t understand. She was pathetic and he was stupid and mean. Any time they were apart, all Clara is thinking is “omg I miss him even though he hurt my feelings on purpose” and he occasionally thinks about her when he remembers to. How am I supposed to be invested in a relationship like that? All this book was was a literary interpretation of those videos you see on TikTok of girls being like “my boyfriend forgot my birthday and doesn’t clean and actually doesn’t even want to hold our kid but I love him so much like you guys just don’t see him the way I do he’s so sweet”. At that point you’re doing this to yourself and I no longer feel bad for you. Even the ending made me a bit upset because I was finally thankful that one of them grew a spine only for it to pan to ten years later and we’re back to the same old thought process. There were so many ways for them to navigate their relationship troubles, but instead they chose the most harmful, most emotionally fraught option they could’ve picked.
Some parts of the book also vaguely felt like a bit of a horror novel with how some of the city’s residents acted and that never fully gets explained which was another problem that I had. We meet all these characters in the city and all of their personalities, despite hypothetically being other real couples that are now in this city, are hinged on the stability of Clara and Francis’s relationship. Maybe I just read it incorrectly or missed something, but I felt like the city as a whole was just not fully fleshed out.
I just can’t in good conscience say that I enjoyed this book. Was it quick? Yes. Was it extremely frustrating? Also yes. I wouldn’t really say that this book is something I would recommend, which is unfortunate.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I love being back in Mackintosh’s speculative literary world again, and Permanence is another certified hit.
Clara and Francis are having an affair, and one day they wake up in an apartment neither recognise or remember how they got there. It’s an impossible city populated entirely by adulterers, who can at last live openly as a couple. But this idea of paradise isn’t all it’s made out to be for the pair.
It’s interesting that, as the other woman, Clara’s world can only be as big as the person pulling the strings, the one with the family and the need for delineation. She is just part of Francis’ life, yet he is her whole world, and this disconnect means the land of impermanence can only be fleeting. Clara is effectively sacrificing her wellbeing in the real world for a love that can’t be true if they can’t be together outside of impermanence.
I love the way in which desire is portrayed between the pair, which is particularly more prevalent in Clara’s passages. Little musings that only Mackintosh could think to write about, like all the different movements Clara is yet to see in Francis (like witnessing him going for a run) or how he interacts with a third party, or what it feels like to call his name. Meanwhile Francis’ character really grated on me as an entitled man who thinks he can have the best of both worlds. The fantasy around the other person quickly dissolves once Clara bears witness to him be plunged into more ‘normal’ situations for a couple in the land of impermanence.
I have to add how much I adored the speculative elements here. If you liked Vanishing World or On the Calculation of Volume then consider Permanence one for you too. Also it’s funny how in some books (like On the Calculation) I want to know the origin story of what’s going on, but here I was cool to blindly accept that Mackintosh doesn’t need to delve into distracting detail, because the concept and beautiful writing speak for themselves.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advance copy!
Clara and Francis are having an affair, and one day they wake up in an apartment neither recognise or remember how they got there. It’s an impossible city populated entirely by adulterers, who can at last live openly as a couple. But this idea of paradise isn’t all it’s made out to be for the pair.
It’s interesting that, as the other woman, Clara’s world can only be as big as the person pulling the strings, the one with the family and the need for delineation. She is just part of Francis’ life, yet he is her whole world, and this disconnect means the land of impermanence can only be fleeting. Clara is effectively sacrificing her wellbeing in the real world for a love that can’t be true if they can’t be together outside of impermanence.
I love the way in which desire is portrayed between the pair, which is particularly more prevalent in Clara’s passages. Little musings that only Mackintosh could think to write about, like all the different movements Clara is yet to see in Francis (like witnessing him going for a run) or how he interacts with a third party, or what it feels like to call his name. Meanwhile Francis’ character really grated on me as an entitled man who thinks he can have the best of both worlds. The fantasy around the other person quickly dissolves once Clara bears witness to him be plunged into more ‘normal’ situations for a couple in the land of impermanence.
I have to add how much I adored the speculative elements here. If you liked Vanishing World or On the Calculation of Volume then consider Permanence one for you too. Also it’s funny how in some books (like On the Calculation) I want to know the origin story of what’s going on, but here I was cool to blindly accept that Mackintosh doesn’t need to delve into distracting detail, because the concept and beautiful writing speak for themselves.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advance copy!
Review of advance copy
The premise of this book is extraordinary. Clara and Francis, two people having a secret affair, wake up with no memory of how they got there — trapped in a mysterious, unnamed city populated entirely by other adulterers. A place where their love can finally exist in the open, with perfect weather and ripe fruit on the counter every morning. A paradise engineered for people who chose the wrong person, or perhaps the right one at the wrong time.
The author’s writing is genuinely beautiful. The most striking device in the novel is the city itself acting as an emotional mirror: when Clara and Francis fight, the sky darkens and the rooms begin to crack and crumble. When Clara finally decides she is ready to leave, the city dissolves alongside her resolve — as if it was only ever held together by her belief in the relationship. It is quietly devastating and elegantly done.
Clara is the emotional core of the book and the more compelling of the two characters. She is invested, reflective, and ultimately the one who grows. Francis, meanwhile, is a married man with a 4 yo child who spends the entire novel professing love he never quite earns. I never believed him. He felt like a man who had confused the excitement of an affair with genuine feeling — someone who needed the escape more than he needed Clara. Their imbalance is clearly intentional, and it works, but it also makes him deeply frustrating to spend time with.
My main criticism is the pacing. For a concept this electric, the novel moves slowly, sometimes frustratingly so. There were stretches where I felt the claustrophobia of the city a little too literally as a reader.
Still, Permanence is a novel that asks a genuinely interesting question — what happens when the affair gets exactly what it always wanted? — and it answers it with intelligence and style. The ending, in particular, was relatable and satisfying.
The author’s writing is genuinely beautiful. The most striking device in the novel is the city itself acting as an emotional mirror: when Clara and Francis fight, the sky darkens and the rooms begin to crack and crumble. When Clara finally decides she is ready to leave, the city dissolves alongside her resolve — as if it was only ever held together by her belief in the relationship. It is quietly devastating and elegantly done.
Clara is the emotional core of the book and the more compelling of the two characters. She is invested, reflective, and ultimately the one who grows. Francis, meanwhile, is a married man with a 4 yo child who spends the entire novel professing love he never quite earns. I never believed him. He felt like a man who had confused the excitement of an affair with genuine feeling — someone who needed the escape more than he needed Clara. Their imbalance is clearly intentional, and it works, but it also makes him deeply frustrating to spend time with.
My main criticism is the pacing. For a concept this electric, the novel moves slowly, sometimes frustratingly so. There were stretches where I felt the claustrophobia of the city a little too literally as a reader.
Still, Permanence is a novel that asks a genuinely interesting question — what happens when the affair gets exactly what it always wanted? — and it answers it with intelligence and style. The ending, in particular, was relatable and satisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2025
*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…
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.
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
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…
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.
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
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Nothing lasts forever and everything is fleeting. Thank you Netgally for allowing me to read this earc.
Permanence is a story about a couple having an affair with stolen moments. One day they wake up in an unknown apartment and an unknown city with other couples. Reality and time bends as Claire and Francis are forced to face the truth of their relationship head on. Shouldering intense themes about love, relationships, obligations, obsession, desire.
I quite liked Permanence; the slow-lived pace of every day life down to specific details made certain passages so easy to visualize. Going from the city of impermanence and reality I felt the urgency the main characters had to return to each other. Their attraction seemed like an obsession and an addiction. The secrets and sneaking around intensified their feelings for each other.
The more were bounced from impermanence and reality the more I felt Claire's feelings ran a little deeper than Francis who ironically seemed to think himself better than other adulterers in impermanence just because he wasn't cheating with a student or his wife's friend or someone he knew.
I saw impermanence as the reality that Claire dreamed of living with Francis because they didn't have to hide. But when things felt too domestic and close to home Francis was ready to stop pretending.
The chapter on family really struck me as the most important and powerful chapter of the book. Another great detail were the physical wounds and rules of impermanence. Literal representations of the pain you can inflict on someone you're close and intimate with.
Permanence is a story about a couple having an affair with stolen moments. One day they wake up in an unknown apartment and an unknown city with other couples. Reality and time bends as Claire and Francis are forced to face the truth of their relationship head on. Shouldering intense themes about love, relationships, obligations, obsession, desire.
I quite liked Permanence; the slow-lived pace of every day life down to specific details made certain passages so easy to visualize. Going from the city of impermanence and reality I felt the urgency the main characters had to return to each other. Their attraction seemed like an obsession and an addiction. The secrets and sneaking around intensified their feelings for each other.
The more were bounced from impermanence and reality the more I felt Claire's feelings ran a little deeper than Francis who ironically seemed to think himself better than other adulterers in impermanence just because he wasn't cheating with a student or his wife's friend or someone he knew.
I saw impermanence as the reality that Claire dreamed of living with Francis because they didn't have to hide. But when things felt too domestic and close to home Francis was ready to stop pretending.
The chapter on family really struck me as the most important and powerful chapter of the book. Another great detail were the physical wounds and rules of impermanence. Literal representations of the pain you can inflict on someone you're close and intimate with.
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