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Long Wave
Not yet published
Expected 2 Jul 26A hypnotic and haunting work of fiction about losing yourself and finding your family, Long Wave is the finest novel yet from Booker Prize-shortlisted Daisy Johnson
'Elemental, fundamental, irresistable... Her greatest achievement yet' Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Close to the shore is the uninhabited, wild, with only a storm-beaten lighthouse for shelter. Ori was found there as a small child with a handful of stones, no memories and no mother. When she has a baby of her own, the job of motherhood feels immense and sleepless nights begin to shatter her grip on reality. Her head fills with the sound of stones knocking against each other and the mystery of her past begins to unravel, opening up a path to the mother she lost, and the mother she could become.
Years earlier, on a sweltering summer day, ten-year-old Ruth sees a woman and her baby walk into the river and disappear. But she is the only witness, and the water yields no trace. Ruth’s mother, Edith, locks her daughter away – first to restrain these wild imaginings, and later, when she falls pregnant, to hide the shame. Ruth longs to escape and dreams of the nearby island, where she and her baby can finally be free.
Told with mythic power and lyrical precision, Long Wave is an extraordinary novel of longing and loss, rebirth and survival.
'Elemental, fundamental, irresistable... Her greatest achievement yet' Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Close to the shore is the uninhabited, wild, with only a storm-beaten lighthouse for shelter. Ori was found there as a small child with a handful of stones, no memories and no mother. When she has a baby of her own, the job of motherhood feels immense and sleepless nights begin to shatter her grip on reality. Her head fills with the sound of stones knocking against each other and the mystery of her past begins to unravel, opening up a path to the mother she lost, and the mother she could become.
Years earlier, on a sweltering summer day, ten-year-old Ruth sees a woman and her baby walk into the river and disappear. But she is the only witness, and the water yields no trace. Ruth’s mother, Edith, locks her daughter away – first to restrain these wild imaginings, and later, when she falls pregnant, to hide the shame. Ruth longs to escape and dreams of the nearby island, where she and her baby can finally be free.
Told with mythic power and lyrical precision, Long Wave is an extraordinary novel of longing and loss, rebirth and survival.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 2, 2026
133 people want to read
About the author
Daisy Johnson
31 books1,328 followersThe author of Sisters (2020) Everything Under (2018) and Fen (2016).
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Everything Under, her debut novel.
Winner of the Edgehill prize for Fen.
She has been longlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award and the New Angle Award for East Anglian writing. She was the winner of the Edge Hill award for a collection of short stories and the AM Heath Prize.
Reviews for Fen:
"Within these magical, ingenious stories lies all of the angst, horror and beauty of adolescence. A brilliant achievement." (Evie Wyld)
"There is big, dangerous vitality herein - this book marks the emergence of a great, stomping, wall-knocking talent" (Kevin Barry)
"Reading the stories brought the sense of being trapped in a room, slowly, but very surely, filling up with water. You think: this can't be happening. Meanwhile, hold your breath against the certainty it surely is. " Cynan Jones
"I've been working my way slowly through Fen and not wanting it to end - Daisy marries realism to the uncanny so well that the strangest turnings ring as truth. The echoes between stories give the collection a wonderfully satisfying cohesion, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot wait to see what she does next." (Sara Taylor, author of The Shore)
Reviews for Everything Under:
"Everything Under grabbed me from the first page and wouldn’t let me go. To read Daisy Johnson is to have that rare feeling of meeting an author you’ll read for the rest of your life." (Evie Wyld)
"Surprising, gorgeously written, and profoundly unsettling, this genderfluid retelling of Oedipus Rex will sink into your bones and stay there." (Carmen Maria Machado)
"Daisy Johnson is a genius." (Jeff VanderMeer)
"Hypnotic, disquieting and thrilling. A concoction of folklore, identity and belonging which sinks its fangs into the heart of you." (Irenosen Okojie)
"Everything Under seeped through to my bones. Reaching new depths hinted at in Fen, language and landscape turn strange, full of creeping horror and beauty. It is precise in its terror, and its tenderness. An ancient myth masterfully remade for our uncertain times. " (Kiran Millwood Hargrave)
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Everything Under, her debut novel.
Winner of the Edgehill prize for Fen.
She has been longlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award and the New Angle Award for East Anglian writing. She was the winner of the Edge Hill award for a collection of short stories and the AM Heath Prize.
Reviews for Fen:
"Within these magical, ingenious stories lies all of the angst, horror and beauty of adolescence. A brilliant achievement." (Evie Wyld)
"There is big, dangerous vitality herein - this book marks the emergence of a great, stomping, wall-knocking talent" (Kevin Barry)
"Reading the stories brought the sense of being trapped in a room, slowly, but very surely, filling up with water. You think: this can't be happening. Meanwhile, hold your breath against the certainty it surely is. " Cynan Jones
"I've been working my way slowly through Fen and not wanting it to end - Daisy marries realism to the uncanny so well that the strangest turnings ring as truth. The echoes between stories give the collection a wonderfully satisfying cohesion, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot wait to see what she does next." (Sara Taylor, author of The Shore)
Reviews for Everything Under:
"Everything Under grabbed me from the first page and wouldn’t let me go. To read Daisy Johnson is to have that rare feeling of meeting an author you’ll read for the rest of your life." (Evie Wyld)
"Surprising, gorgeously written, and profoundly unsettling, this genderfluid retelling of Oedipus Rex will sink into your bones and stay there." (Carmen Maria Machado)
"Daisy Johnson is a genius." (Jeff VanderMeer)
"Hypnotic, disquieting and thrilling. A concoction of folklore, identity and belonging which sinks its fangs into the heart of you." (Irenosen Okojie)
"Everything Under seeped through to my bones. Reaching new depths hinted at in Fen, language and landscape turn strange, full of creeping horror and beauty. It is precise in its terror, and its tenderness. An ancient myth masterfully remade for our uncertain times. " (Kiran Millwood Hargrave)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 18, 2026
Fuck. Omg fuck.
This has broken me. And I will never stop thinking about this book.
What a beautiful and broken collection of lives living amongst each other, contributed to each child’s downfall. Generational trauma for the lord’s toughest soldiers, omg.
I am so thankful to Riverhead Books, Edelweiss Books, and Daisy Johnson for advanced access before US pub day - October 13, 2026.
FUCKKKKKK. The bodies of water in this small town keep secrets. They hold memories both light and dark, leading onto generations for time to come.
Told in a fragmented timeline, we hear the story of Edith, her daughter Ruth who is just longing to get away and stretch her wings, her neighbors - Dillon and his crew of brothers who are always getting into trouble, and a cast of other characters that Ruth meets throughout the course of her troubled life.
Ruth longs to visit the Island that collects the waters from their riverside town, believing she could create a utopia of sorts for her friends and family as they live off the land. In an attempt to journey out to that foreboding land mass, she stumbles upon a woman with a baby strapped to her chest, walking determinedly into the rushing river, only for her to vanish in the blink of an eye.
This canon event sparks a world of unrest in her home, as her mother, with good intentions, means to lock her away from harm and the light of day. But bad decisions are made and Ruth finds herself with child at the hand of one of Dillon’s brothers, with no intent on caring for his soon to be born child, or co-conspirator in the equation.
As Ruth’s life continues to spiral downward, the Island stays ever present on her horizon as the solution to her problems, but her cataclysmic ending sparks a new beginning for her daughter Ori, and the cycle forever continues.
This was such an incredible narrative and I cannot stop thinking about each character and the role they played in the OG plot. This isn’t my first Daisy Johnson read, and it’s definitely not my last.
This has broken me. And I will never stop thinking about this book.
What a beautiful and broken collection of lives living amongst each other, contributed to each child’s downfall. Generational trauma for the lord’s toughest soldiers, omg.
I am so thankful to Riverhead Books, Edelweiss Books, and Daisy Johnson for advanced access before US pub day - October 13, 2026.
FUCKKKKKK. The bodies of water in this small town keep secrets. They hold memories both light and dark, leading onto generations for time to come.
Told in a fragmented timeline, we hear the story of Edith, her daughter Ruth who is just longing to get away and stretch her wings, her neighbors - Dillon and his crew of brothers who are always getting into trouble, and a cast of other characters that Ruth meets throughout the course of her troubled life.
Ruth longs to visit the Island that collects the waters from their riverside town, believing she could create a utopia of sorts for her friends and family as they live off the land. In an attempt to journey out to that foreboding land mass, she stumbles upon a woman with a baby strapped to her chest, walking determinedly into the rushing river, only for her to vanish in the blink of an eye.
This canon event sparks a world of unrest in her home, as her mother, with good intentions, means to lock her away from harm and the light of day. But bad decisions are made and Ruth finds herself with child at the hand of one of Dillon’s brothers, with no intent on caring for his soon to be born child, or co-conspirator in the equation.
As Ruth’s life continues to spiral downward, the Island stays ever present on her horizon as the solution to her problems, but her cataclysmic ending sparks a new beginning for her daughter Ori, and the cycle forever continues.
This was such an incredible narrative and I cannot stop thinking about each character and the role they played in the OG plot. This isn’t my first Daisy Johnson read, and it’s definitely not my last.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review