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Flood Tide
Dunja, having finally gotten a little acclaim and money from her writing career, decides it’s time to return home to the Adriatic coast and solve the mystery of her brother’s death.
It is not going well. In moderate physical decline, and with an immoderate weed habit, the going is arduous and the people inscrutable. Her old friends—those who never left—have had years to forget or convince themselves they don’t remember.
Dunja must contend with her own ambivalences, desire and disgust, curiosity and fear, as she begins to doubt her rationale for returning.
Flood Tide is a sweeping exploration of the violence born from human limitation and indecision. It is as elegantly plotted and psychologically deft as a Ross Macdonald mystery, and has the idiosyncratic virtuosity of Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season.
It is not going well. In moderate physical decline, and with an immoderate weed habit, the going is arduous and the people inscrutable. Her old friends—those who never left—have had years to forget or convince themselves they don’t remember.
Dunja must contend with her own ambivalences, desire and disgust, curiosity and fear, as she begins to doubt her rationale for returning.
Flood Tide is a sweeping exploration of the violence born from human limitation and indecision. It is as elegantly plotted and psychologically deft as a Ross Macdonald mystery, and has the idiosyncratic virtuosity of Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season.
244 pages, Paperback
Published October 27, 2025
About the author
Ana Schnabl
13 books57 followersANA SCHNABL is an award winning authoress from Slovenia.
Her collection of short stories Razvezani (Disentangled) received Best Literary Debut Prize at the annual Ljubljana Book Fair in 2017. The same book was shortlisted for the Novo mesto Short Prize and for the Mira PEN Award. The collection was translated into Serbian (Partizanska knjiga, 2018) and German (Folio Verlag, 2020). The Serbian translation received the Edo Budiša Award in Croatia.
Her second book, a novel called Mojstrovina (Masterpiece) was published in 2020. It is due to be translated into Serbian (Partizanska knjiga, 2022), German (Folio Verlag, 2022) and English (Istros Books, 2021).
She finished her second novel called Plima (The Tide) in January 2021. The book will be published in January 2022. She is currently working on a colection of novellas.
Her collection of short stories Razvezani (Disentangled) received Best Literary Debut Prize at the annual Ljubljana Book Fair in 2017. The same book was shortlisted for the Novo mesto Short Prize and for the Mira PEN Award. The collection was translated into Serbian (Partizanska knjiga, 2018) and German (Folio Verlag, 2020). The Serbian translation received the Edo Budiša Award in Croatia.
Her second book, a novel called Mojstrovina (Masterpiece) was published in 2020. It is due to be translated into Serbian (Partizanska knjiga, 2022), German (Folio Verlag, 2022) and English (Istros Books, 2021).
She finished her second novel called Plima (The Tide) in January 2021. The book will be published in January 2022. She is currently working on a colection of novellas.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 5, 2022
Slišala sem veliko pohval o Plimi in izkazalo se je, da so bile upravičene.
Po eni strani me je, iskreno povedano, avtoričin stil malo motil zaradi medvrstičnih iger z besedami, ki so občasno delovale name precej dolgovezno in se mi je dogajanje zdelo zmedeno. Po drugi strani pa je prav ta gost in bogat jezik neznansko unikaten, da te žene naprej k branju. Recimo prizor s šahom se mi je zdel blazno zanimiv ali pa prizori srečevanj glavne junakinje (pisateljice) z bratovo nekdanjo simpatijo.
Piko na i zgodbi poleg grenke zgodbe o raziskovanju smrti brata doda tudi okolje in to je naša Obala. Vonj po borovcih, morje, Piran, Bernardin, sladoled, marina, sol v zraku,...vse to me spominja na počitnice v otroštvu.
Avtorici vsekakor vse pohvale.
Po eni strani me je, iskreno povedano, avtoričin stil malo motil zaradi medvrstičnih iger z besedami, ki so občasno delovale name precej dolgovezno in se mi je dogajanje zdelo zmedeno. Po drugi strani pa je prav ta gost in bogat jezik neznansko unikaten, da te žene naprej k branju. Recimo prizor s šahom se mi je zdel blazno zanimiv ali pa prizori srečevanj glavne junakinje (pisateljice) z bratovo nekdanjo simpatijo.
Piko na i zgodbi poleg grenke zgodbe o raziskovanju smrti brata doda tudi okolje in to je naša Obala. Vonj po borovcih, morje, Piran, Bernardin, sladoled, marina, sol v zraku,...vse to me spominja na počitnice v otroštvu.
Avtorici vsekakor vse pohvale.
July 26, 2025
Moja ocena odraža moje občutenje knjige oz. stopnjo bralnega užitka ob njej. Žal, ni ga bilo. Res sem se mučila z branjem sicer obetavne zgodbe avtorice, ki se mi je priljubila s svojimi prvimi knjigami in objavami, a s tokrat izbranim slogom mi zgodbe ni uspela približati. Čeprav lahko razumem/sklepam/si razlagam, da so zlogovane, ponavljane, pretrgane, v krepkem ali drobnem tisku zapisane besede in fraze, prepredene z vulgarizmi, medmeti, onomatopejami in drugimi zvoki in učinki, direktna preslikava toka misli oz. dogajanja v glavi glavne junakinje, je bilo vsega tega tako zelo preveč, da je pripoved trpela in tudi razplet romana se mi ni zdel prepričljiv in ni upravičil uporabe takšnih izraznih sredstev.
January 30, 2026
A woman returns to her hometown on the Slovenian coast twenty years after the death of her brother in an attempt to bring closure to the many lingering questions surrounding his mysterious death. Well, beyond bringing closure, her ultimate goal is to write a story about her brother, maybe a crime novel, and perhaps it’s the book we’re reading right now. She links up with the curious characters of her childhood, assuming the role of the “Great Detective” as she digs and prods and works to uncover and understand who her brother really was at the time of his death.
The writing style, filled as it is with many diversions, freak outs, side notes, sound effects, etc. quickly overstays its welcome. When used sparingly, this could be effective—it worked particularly well in the chess scene near the end—but used with no restraint, it makes for a exasperating and fitful reading experience and prevents the reader from fully settling into the text. But what kept me in it, what prevented me from putting it down were the characters. The scenes with loyal Katarina, hygienic and sterile Kristijan, precocious and observant Duška, and Michael Jackson-obsessed Mirela were what ultimately kept me engaged.
An at times claustrophobically introspective novel that serves as a stark reminder that sometimes the past, painful as it is to bear, is better left undisturbed.
The writing style, filled as it is with many diversions, freak outs, side notes, sound effects, etc. quickly overstays its welcome. When used sparingly, this could be effective—it worked particularly well in the chess scene near the end—but used with no restraint, it makes for a exasperating and fitful reading experience and prevents the reader from fully settling into the text. But what kept me in it, what prevented me from putting it down were the characters. The scenes with loyal Katarina, hygienic and sterile Kristijan, precocious and observant Duška, and Michael Jackson-obsessed Mirela were what ultimately kept me engaged.
An at times claustrophobically introspective novel that serves as a stark reminder that sometimes the past, painful as it is to bear, is better left undisturbed.
March 23, 2022
Plima je roman, prepoln duha, humorja, živih oseb in živopisnih prizorov slovenskega Primorja. V jeziku je pa Schnabl, upam si trditi, presegla samo sebe, se popolnoma naselila v njem in sprostila; ta je igriv, ironičen, duhovit, se preliva čez rob, in - iz njega se napaja resničnost in ne obratno. Jezik, ki tvori zares presežno umetnost.
Prava literarna poslastica!!
Prava literarna poslastica!!
May 3, 2022
Moje mnenje o knjigi lahko preberete na https://maticpise.com/2022/04/29/plima/
March 29, 2022
Plima je predvsem roman a(tra)ktivne introspekcije - še bolj kot za iskanje morilca gre v njem kakopak za iskanje "sebe", a ne brez šale na lasten račun, pa tudi ne brez zajebane družbene analize. Stilistični dogodek literarnega leta (pa šele marca smo)!
July 2, 2026
I desperately wanted to like this but I am afraid it was a bit of a miss for me. In the book's defence I lost my glasses about 10 pages in and then caught a cold, so read this entirely without glasses. However even reading the final 100 pages in a bubble bath with non-alc prossecco didn't redeem it.
I think the most obvious problem with this book is its translation to English. For a book that is described as a "linguistic rollercoaster," I think a lot of the word play was lost in translation and many of the English replacements felt cliched and corny. I'm a Russian speaker and of course this isn't the same as Slovenian but I know enough to know that many of the word plays were not just translated but replaced by English ones (i.e. in places where alliteration was used.) I honestly feel losing some of the world play for a more honest translation would have been better but maybe the book just doesn't work in English.
The other thing I struggled with was the narration - of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with an unlikeable narrator however I found Dunja's lack of decisiveness and idolisation of her dead brother to be incredibly frustrating at times. I felt like the book almost functioned as an excuse for people who allow their own under-processed trauma to traumatise others. Dunja behaves like a child in her 40s and justifies it by an unimaginable trauma experienced when she was a small child.
Dunja actually reminded me of someone I knew who idolised a family member who passed away during childhood and just completely fell apart and hurt people when realising that that certain family member was not the great person she worshipped (T). She reminded me a bit of myself as well, but I'd like to think I'm a bit more self aware haha. As hard as it is I think Dunja's, T's and mine is a selfish existence and I think this book was overly sympathetic of it.
I found the ending to be pretty yuck. Overall I feel like I've read a sob story about someone who feels their pain is the fault of everyone around them and has no intention of changing that. Someone who's identity is shaped by pain and fears letting go of it for fear of becoming a nobody.
I think the most obvious problem with this book is its translation to English. For a book that is described as a "linguistic rollercoaster," I think a lot of the word play was lost in translation and many of the English replacements felt cliched and corny. I'm a Russian speaker and of course this isn't the same as Slovenian but I know enough to know that many of the word plays were not just translated but replaced by English ones (i.e. in places where alliteration was used.) I honestly feel losing some of the world play for a more honest translation would have been better but maybe the book just doesn't work in English.
The other thing I struggled with was the narration - of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with an unlikeable narrator however I found Dunja's lack of decisiveness and idolisation of her dead brother to be incredibly frustrating at times. I felt like the book almost functioned as an excuse for people who allow their own under-processed trauma to traumatise others. Dunja behaves like a child in her 40s and justifies it by an unimaginable trauma experienced when she was a small child.
Dunja actually reminded me of someone I knew who idolised a family member who passed away during childhood and just completely fell apart and hurt people when realising that that certain family member was not the great person she worshipped (T). She reminded me a bit of myself as well, but I'd like to think I'm a bit more self aware haha. As hard as it is I think Dunja's, T's and mine is a selfish existence and I think this book was overly sympathetic of it.
I found the ending to be pretty yuck. Overall I feel like I've read a sob story about someone who feels their pain is the fault of everyone around them and has no intention of changing that. Someone who's identity is shaped by pain and fears letting go of it for fear of becoming a nobody.
April 21, 2022
Nisem vedela, da je knjigo mogoče napisati (in brati) v tako izvirnem slogu.
October 9, 2022
"...pretenciozni roman mlade avtorice z izjemnim slogom, a - bog ji odpusti - brez prave substance..." 😂😂
Mogoče na momente malo klavstrofobično oz tesnobno, ampak kljub temu all in all, avtorica mi tega vložka bržkone ne bo zamerila, haha, super branje!
Mogoče na momente malo klavstrofobično oz tesnobno, ampak kljub temu all in all, avtorica mi tega vložka bržkone ne bo zamerila, haha, super branje!
November 9, 2022
Pri Schnabl imam precej visoko postavljeno lestvico, saj me s svojim jezikom navdušuje že od Razvezanih. Plima doseže in postavi nov standard. Igra jezika je neverjetna, ni pogosto, da avtor ustvarja jezik medtem ko piše (čeprav si to mnogi želijo). Sama vsebina je kriminalka, a vendar več kot to. Intimno iskanje odgovorov in rešitev za situacije, ki te pripeljejo na točko v življenju, kjer nisi najbolj zadovoljen/a pa se poslušaš iz tega izkopati, podprto z vsem zelo poznanim naborom srednje do nefunkcionalnimi odnosi in razmerji. Za moj okus globoko intimen psihološki krimič. Krimič, ki je visoka literatura.
March 28, 2026
Psihološko-kriminalni roman. Kriminalni zaplet je bolj v ozadju - v ospredju je Dunja, mlada ženska, ki zavita v oblak marihuane blodi po slovenski obali in skuša faking ugotoviti, ma zakaj je pred mnogimi leti, ko je bila še punčka, otrok, hihi, deklica, Dunjica, Dunjič, faking umrl njen brat, ki, mnja, je padel ali, o njen bog, bil porinjen z obzidja cerkve ... (prosta reinterpretacija stila romana).
Na trenutke genialno, na trenutke preveč zapleteno zame, ko skušam odvisnik za odvisnikom dešifrirati dolg kačast stavek, ki se vije čez celo, o njen bog (dorrra ideja, ma dai), stran.
Plima mi je bila veliko bolj všeč kot avtoričin prvi roman Mojstrovina. V Mojstrovini so bili v takem nabuhlem stilu tudi dialogi med protagonistoma, ker se mi je zdelo absurdno. Tu gre za tok misli, dialogi so pa bolj realni.
Ni za vsakogar. Kdor se prebije čez prvih nekaj strani, pa zna uživati v stilu do konca. V poigravanju z jezikom, s prispodobami, z rimami, ...
(prebrano marca 2022)
Na trenutke genialno, na trenutke preveč zapleteno zame, ko skušam odvisnik za odvisnikom dešifrirati dolg kačast stavek, ki se vije čez celo, o njen bog (dorrra ideja, ma dai), stran.
Plima mi je bila veliko bolj všeč kot avtoričin prvi roman Mojstrovina. V Mojstrovini so bili v takem nabuhlem stilu tudi dialogi med protagonistoma, ker se mi je zdelo absurdno. Tu gre za tok misli, dialogi so pa bolj realni.
Ni za vsakogar. Kdor se prebije čez prvih nekaj strani, pa zna uživati v stilu do konca. V poigravanju z jezikom, s prispodobami, z rimami, ...
(prebrano marca 2022)
January 28, 2026
Flood Tide is a psychologically rich and elegantly crafted novel that follows Dunja Anko as she returns home to the Adriatic coast to confront her past and her brother’s mysterious death. Ana Schnabl’s narrative blends dark humor, suspense, and introspection, creating a story that is both haunting and deeply human. Rawley Grau’s translation beautifully preserves the novel’s linguistic nuance and emotional intensity.
A compelling read for fans of literary fiction, psychological depth, and intricately plotted narratives.
A compelling read for fans of literary fiction, psychological depth, and intricately plotted narratives.
March 23, 2026
a six-part bbc drama as a book, if i've ever read one
i really like schnabl's writing style, it's playful and feels contemporarily real without being internet-coded; lots of moments where you're occupying the feelings of dunja (incl. her neuroses)
the story was captivating at the start but kind of resolved itself in a somewhat unremarkable way — giving high school creative writing assignment that ends with "and then i woke up"
anyway, five stars for the cover and i definitely want to read more of her, for sure
i really like schnabl's writing style, it's playful and feels contemporarily real without being internet-coded; lots of moments where you're occupying the feelings of dunja (incl. her neuroses)
the story was captivating at the start but kind of resolved itself in a somewhat unremarkable way — giving high school creative writing assignment that ends with "and then i woke up"
anyway, five stars for the cover and i definitely want to read more of her, for sure
June 1, 2026
A middle-aged woman, Dunja, returns to her home town on the coast of Slovenia to finally find answers behind the unexplained death of her older brother, Dražen, three decades earlier. Reuniting with her best friend Katarina and her partner Kristijan, Dunja navigates chronic illness and her many hang-ups to interview people who may not what happened. Using stream of consciousness and metaphorical flourishes, this novel is more about character, form and style than plot despite the compelling premise.
January 13, 2026
I read this in English translation ('Flood Tide') but couldn't find it on Goodreads. I loved this book - particularly Dunja's frustrated, shrewd, and funny narration. I truly appreciated her anger and humour. Coming home can make me want to turn into the Great Detective too.
February 19, 2026
Best narrators voice ever.
March 22, 2026
3.5
Very interesting and all-consuming writing style. I finished a lot of the chapters feeling like I hadn’t taken a breath
Very interesting and all-consuming writing style. I finished a lot of the chapters feeling like I hadn’t taken a breath
May 24, 2026
(3.5)
April 23, 2026
3.5 rounded down. Written from the third-person perspective of a traumatised, overthinking woman, this was at times difficult to get through without re-reading each sentence thrice because it twisted and turned and broke off and started again in paragraph-length sentences. Other times, I whizzed through with the speed of Dunja’s thought. Despite the murder mystery of it all, the story was uninspiring. Perhaps it was trying too hard to be meta.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews