Daytime Moon

by Kerri Schlottman

Written with remarkable precision and insight, every page of Daytime Moon is a testament to Schlottman’s enormous gifts as a storyteller and writer — Andrew Porter, author of The Imagined Life

​Isa has a gift. Premonitions, intuitive insight, a knack for tarot. But she is adrift.

Years ago, she ran away from one coast to the other and never looked back, but when her brother Cole unexpectedly shows up on her stoop, she’s convinced that it’s time to go home. Back in the California desert, Isa is swept up in her former life of late-night drag races by the Salton Sea, beers with the locals, and haunting reminders of the twin sister she lost and the mother she never got to meet.

When Dane, the man who raised them, becomes terminally ill, Isa is forced to confront everything she ran away from. In a posthumous letter, his revelations ignite her fearless internal drive. Traveling up and down California highways, through desert and forest, roaring coastline and border towns, Isa will follow the signs so delicately woven into the fabric of her life—a name, a constellation, a painting, a gleam of recognition on the water’s surface. If she can piece them together, she just might reunite the shattered remains of her beloved family.

Artfully narrated, Daytime Moon is an unforgettable journey through hidden stories, the shimmering fluidity of memory, the depths of women's secrets, and the magic of transmutation.

300 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication May 12, 2026

About the author

Kerri Schlottman is a writer of literary fiction novels, most recently Daytime Moon (Unnamed Press, May 2026), which was named a 2026 Most Anticipated Book by Pop Sugar Magazine. Her novel Tell Me One Thing was a 2025 Storytrade Literary Fiction Finalist, a two-time 2024 PenCraft Fiction Award Winner, a 2023 American Book Fest Best Literary Fiction Book Finalist, and a Shelf Awareness Best Book This Week. Kerri works to support artists, writers, and performers in creating new work and is a part-time graduate professor in arts administration at NYU.

Reviews

[Scott Semegran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daytime Moon is magnificent, a literary meditation about family, memory, and belonging with deep emotional stakes. Like trying to capture meaning in one’s life with a net, Schlottman beautifully illustrates the longing we all have for the places we came from and the places we hope to arrive to, both transitory like sand castles. Gorgeously written and intensely felt, Schlottman adds a worthy milestone on her journey to excellence.

[Billie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and The Unnamed Press for the complimentary e-ARC of this novel.

Daytime Moon is best described as a deeply reflective piece of literary prose , one that draws you in rather than demanding your attention. I found myself almost hypnotized by Isa’s thoughtful inner monologue and her “mutterings” . While I usually gravitate toward faster-paced reads, this was the kind of book that invites you to slow down and rewards you for doing so.

The novel is profoundly introspective, exploring grief, identity, and the fragile, often messy process of putting oneself back together. What stood out for me most was its emotional honesty. The characters are flawed, at times even frustrating, yet that imperfection made them feel real. There were moments when I had to pause, sit with the words, and let them settle and I always appreciate a book that creates that kind of space.

That said, the pacing did feel slow in places. There were instances where I longed for more momentum or tension. Still, I understand that the quietness is intentional, and in many ways, it serves the story well, especially if you’re in the mood for something contemplative.

Overall, this was a thoughtful and moving read. A book , that after reading I’m left with a feeling I can’t quite name .

[Matt Bender · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel about a woman conflicted between puzzling out her family and fleeing its tragedy that is heavy with Americana—for instance a list of the main character’s occupations include: housecleaned, tarot card reader, mechanic, custodian, concession stand worker. There is also the specter of environmental degradation (polluted water, smog, fires) and poverty (there seems to be no accessible social safety net in the characters’ America).

This is a novel for people who like family mysteries, but for me it was too melodramatic and the events were too grief filled to enjoy. That’s not to say it’s not realistic at all; in some ways it felt like a story a client would tell me.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw another review calling this a “literary meditation” and I can’t help but agree! Beautiful, melancholic writing about familial mysteries and relationships. Enjoyable read.

Thank you Unnamed Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Angelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was beautifully melancholic and fully captures how adrift Isa is and as the story unfolds, you definitely understand why. The book was like a treasure hunt following a map of family stories never told. I think if you like stories about unraveling family mysteries this one will click with you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the ARC of this book. Love the cover of the book!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley and Unnamed Press, for the ARC of this book. I was drawn to this title from the description, and I feel it is heavier emotionally than I anticipated. The writing is elegant and descriptive. Although the formatting wasn't final in the version I read, it didn't throw off the story's ability to pull me in and keep me reading. There is definitely almost a mystery quality to the main plot that kept the story moving in a strong way. The characters were unique yet relatable and enjoyable to meet and discover through Isa's exploration. There is definitely a lot of sadness and death in the story. So if that is not a vibe you are comfortable with currently, maybe wait to read this at a different time. However, like most heavily emotional stories, I feel like Isa and Cole will be in my head for a long time.

Isa is pulled back into a life she ran away from when her brother, Cole, comes to New York to tell her that the man who raised them is dying. When Isa returns to not only the town but also the house she grew up in, all the good and the bad of her youth comes rushing back. A letter and some photos ignite in her a need to learn more about her mother's life and her biological father. Each discovery leads to more questions, and Isa finds herself on a quest to both understand and find a way to more forward.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engrossing contemporary tale of how unknown things in our past can shape us. This is a well written novel - a coming-of-age story - in which when past secrets are revealed, the liberation thus brings allows one to be free to finally understand oneself.

Isa ran from the west coast to the east coast to escape a tragedy but now it’s time to return. Her brother, Cole, brings her home to Salton Sea to say goodbye to the man who raised them but was not their father. Isa as well as Cole has been wrestling with whom her father was which she learns on this trip. She finally tells her boyfriend, Merce, about her twin only to have him reject her. Then she loses her best friend and it seems like a downward spiral for Isa. But somehow she gets determined finds her father, learns a lot about her mother’s history, searches with Cole to uncover her family’s secrets.

This is a powerful journey to truth story. I wasn’t sure what held my attention most: Isa or Cole because they both had so much unknowns in their lives. But I loved how they bonded over the family search. This is really Isa’s story though. I enjoyed how she blossomed as the story went on. And I loved how a family emerged.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Unnamed Press for giving me access to this ARC.

[Marjorie Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

​A journey into family grief and healing, Daytime Moon calls young Isa, a Tarot card reader living on the fringes of New York city life, home to the southern California desert to face a dying stepfather, where she is haunted by unresolved griefs: the death-in-birthing loss of her artist mother and the drowning death of her damaged, beloved twin sister. Living in layers of unspoken family secrets, Isa doesn't fit into any ordinary worlds available, so she lives on the fringes of the ordinary, in physical and psychological places haunted by trauma. Such worlds! The hot dry track of desert racing, the poisonous and beautiful Salton Sea, the worlds of unknown relations discovered. A spooky journey with her steadfast brother takes Isa toward understanding of her origin story and attempts to settle the strangeness of the world through tentative connection, finally setting the world right by facing loss and grief and honoring the dead. This book takes us to a place where sadness can no longer freeze life in its tracks; rather, the need for connection and a love of the beautiful can allow something new to grow.

[Laura Lombardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved Kerri Schlottman's work since I discovered her novel Tell Me One Thing a few years ago. I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of Daytime Moon! The coastal setting and family/sisterhood and timely environmental themes drew me to this extraordinary novel. Schlottman expertly balances urgent topics with a lightness.

I was so moved by the main character Isa's journey to find her family, and the characters she meets along the way. It kept me turning pages late into the night. I also absolutely loved her dynamic with her brother! The characters all felt so real to me, like people I could hang out with, from Isa's friends, to her love interest, to her wonderfully reclusive aunt (who was an absolute stand out for me!) to the mother she never got to meet, and the sister she longs for. I felt like I sank into these pages and was guided expertly along by the gorgeous, lyrical writing.

I have a feeling Kerri Schlottman's name is going to be everywhere soon and I think this book has real award potential. I'm so excited to see what Kerri does next! She is an auto-buy author for me now!

[Judith Turner-Yamamoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daytime Moon is a haunting, beautifully written novel about grief, family, and the strange, inescapable pull of home. Kerri Schlottmann’s Isa is living in New York, trying to keep her life moving forward, yet the novel makes clear from the start that she is shadowed by the loss of her twin, Ella, and by the desert world she thought she had left behind. When she is drawn back to the Salton Sea, the book opens into a powerful reckoning with memory, guilt, love, and the unfinished business of belonging.

What I admired most is the way Schlottmann balances lyric beauty with emotional clarity. Isa feels utterly human throughout: wary, wounded, loving, avoidant, perceptive, and not always ready to face what the past is still asking of her. The novel’s imagery of water, whales, tarot, and the eerie, half-ruined landscape of the Salton Sea gives the story a dreamlike atmosphere, but its emotional truths are sharp and grounded.

And beneath all that beauty is a deeply moving story about forgiveness, including the hardest kind, forgiveness of the self. Daytime Moon stayed with me for its tenderness, its atmosphere, and its hard-won grace. A luminous, deeply felt novel.

[Alison T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daytime Moon, the latest novel from Kerry Schlottman, is an impactful, thought-provoking story that is beautifully written. I loved it!

Isa is the main character of this poignant story. She is trying to find where she belongs, having lost her mother at childbirth and her twin sister when she was young. She has faced other loses and tragedies in her young life.

The one person who won’t abandon her, even though she leaves him for ten years, is her older brother Cole. Together, they set out to learn more about their family.
Told through vivid and immersive scenes of the California desert and coast, we travel with them and discover their desire to find love and family they can hold on to. Schlottman’s rich, complex characters captivated me completely, as Isa and Cole were not alone on their journey.

I was fascinated by this splendid book from page one and I stayed engaged until the very end, with a tale that was both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Thank you to Unnamed Press and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daytime Moon (4.5 stars), by Kerri Schlottman, is a haunting, character-driven, layered novel about family secrets, memory, and the quiet pull of intuition. Isa, who experiences premonitions and reads tarot, returns to the stark California desert after years on the run. Amid late-night drag races, resurfacing ghosts, and revelations from a dying father figure, she pieces together the fractured past—her lost twin and the mother she never knew.

Scotchman's atmospheric writing captures the uncertainty of memory and finds magic in ordinary signs. The story is intimate while also being universal, weaving together loss, resilience, and the slow work of healing.

A powerful, introspective read that stays with you after the last page. This is not a fast-paced read, but that is OK. It allows you to sit with the characters and take it all in.

Thanks to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the advance copy; opinions are my own.

[Megan Strang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daytime Moon shines with character depth and a striking sense of place. This Midwesterner didn’t even know the Salton Sea existed, and I was immediately drawn in to the world and geography, as my Google history shows!

Daytime Moon delicately weaves several disparate themes into a cohesive story. There’s everything from family dynamics and romantic relationships to grief and trauma, and even a dash of tarot and deep intuition along with meditations on our natural world. In many hands this could make for a big, meandering book. But in Kerri’s, it all seamlessly weaves together to make that just-right book. Characters you feel like you know and a story arc that holds you through every page. I’m excited to recommend this book to all my Sad Fiction girlies, because there’s a lot to wallow in, but there’s also beauty and healing.

[Ryan-Ashley Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kerri Schlottman’s forthcoming Daytime Moon is a total gut punch. This hero’s journey follows a young woman named Isa for whom precarity has been the prevailing theme of her life. At times limping toward resolutions, Isa struggles open-hearted toward home, love, and herself. This book is for any reader who is holding onto something, letting go of something, and learning to live in the gray matter between who we’ve been and who we want to be.

Thank you to Kerri and Unnamed Press for the ARC!

[Laura Venita Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daytime Moon is incredible! It's the type of book that pulls you along and then makes you want to go right back to the beginning to see how the author pulled it off. It's full of details that take on new meaning as the story moves forward - I felt so valued as a reader. It's tender. It's insightful. It's beautifully crafted. I care so much about the characters, and the family they build throughout their journey. I'm now a Schlottman megafan and am about to go check out her other books.

[Candi Sary · Rating 5 out of 5]

With exquisite writing, openhearted characters, and a compelling quest to unearth family secrets, Daytime Moon absolutely shines. A vivid and thoughtful story unfolds as pieces of a mother’s hidden life come together while Mother Earth shows signs of coming apart. Schlottman creates a wonderfully complex, unforgettable tapestry.

Thank you to Kerri and Unnamed Press for the ARC.

[Ella]

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