Undertow

by Beverley Shaw

288 pages, Paperback

Published September 25, 2025

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undertow, Beverley Shaw’s slow-burning debut novel, tells an emotionally resonant tale of intertwining lives, the decisions people make, and the repercussions of those decisions. Sophie is a New York-based actress, almost 30, who senses her life is approaching a turning point. Early in her career she starred in a popular tv series, and after its cancellation made a couple of well-regarded romantic comedy films with screenwriter Bill and producer Nathan. When the novel opens, Sophie has come to a seaside resort in Nova Scotia with Bill and Nathan to work through Bill’s new script and bounce ideas off each other. But the work is not going well. Sophie has doubts about the script and doubts about Bill, whose sensitivity to criticism and increasingly thorny nature are making her uneasy. Nathan, as always, plays peacemaker. Sophie doesn’t know anymore if she wants to work with them, if another of Bill’s rom-coms is what she needs to be doing. One morning she goes to the beach for a swim and, buffeted by unexpectedly strong currents, almost drowns. Fred, a gay man in his late 30s and a staff member at the resort, finds her washed up and exhausted on the sand and accompanies her to a clinic in town to have her checked out. At the clinic, Sophie confirms a suspicion she’s had, that she’s pregnant. She knows at once that she wants to keep the baby and that this decision changes everything. The remainder of the novel flows from Sophie’s change of circumstance. She quits the film, and, together with her partner Tim, a musician, starts planning for the birth. Sophie’s decisions aren’t made lightly. She often suffers pangs of guilt, feeling she’s let her creative partners down by indulging her “whim” to become a mother, and damaging her career and her marriage by making unreasonable demands on everyone around her. But solace comes in the form of Nathan’s patient, tolerant wife Anne, with whom she develops an abiding, mutually supportive friendship. Anne and Nathan have problems of their own: a teenage son suffering from profound mental health issues. Rudy seems to be making progress, but the parents worry constantly that the decisions they’ve made regarding his treatment might be doing more harm than good. Shaw delves into Fred’s life as well, who is also stumbling through a period of transition and wondering about his future after the recent collapse of his relationship with Jamie, a brilliant but irresponsible artist and addict, who seems to want to reconnect. In Undertow, Beverley Shaw has written an unabashedly character-based novel. She knows her people inside out and presents them to us with masks off and defenses down. Their world is painfully real, and their vulnerabilities draw us to them in sympathy. At its core, Undertow is a deeply humane novel, one that demands patience and close attention from the reader. Its power builds as we progress through the story and become intimate with the circumstances of the characters’ lives, the quandaries they face, their regrets, their fears, hopes and dreams, and see our own lives reflected in theirs.

[Thomas Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review Undertow
The author intertwines the lives of three characters and how their lives are influenced by their friendships, physical environment, politics, sexuality, mental health, family, business, death and country. The minor cast is extremely relevant and tied up neatly. There is a lot going on. The reader has to fucus on the narrative. Beverley writes thought provoking inner voices of her characters. The Maritime portion of characters are authentic, and our lifestyle real. The United States portion is as I imagine it. Be ready to engage.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had originally set the book aside after reading the first few chapters, but after giving it some thought, it probably wasn't the "right time" for this novel.
I'm happy that I picked it up again and finished it. it's a well-defined novel, the characters all going through their own difficulties, battling against the Undertow of their issues amid Trump's first term. Nova Scotia, however proves to be the (or provides) the solace they all seek.