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Daphnis and Chloe
Longlisted for the 2026 Giller Prize • A 2026 CIBA Booksellers’ List Selection • One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2026
A fable about love and innocence and beauty, and finding a light through the darkness.
There’s a city on an island in the Pacific that can only be reached by ferry, a city where a mechanic named Frank opens a garage with his old friend Charlie. Both men marry the women they love but are unable to have children. There are drugs on the streets of this city that take away pain for strings of minutes and bring synthetic rapture; and by these streets the couples are given two babies, abandoned under strange circumstances. The boy they name Daphnis, and the girl Chloe.
And so begins a book unlike anything else, a modern retelling of an ancient story. Part Ovid and part True Romance, and narrated by Eros himself, Daphnis and Chloe offers a pulpy meditation on love and beauty, on people triumphing over darkness by wrestling deep within it, on the solace of art, and on the simple but profound pleasure provided to a blind old man as he holds his wife’s hand and listens to an increasingly familiar story.
A fable about love and innocence and beauty, and finding a light through the darkness.
There’s a city on an island in the Pacific that can only be reached by ferry, a city where a mechanic named Frank opens a garage with his old friend Charlie. Both men marry the women they love but are unable to have children. There are drugs on the streets of this city that take away pain for strings of minutes and bring synthetic rapture; and by these streets the couples are given two babies, abandoned under strange circumstances. The boy they name Daphnis, and the girl Chloe.
And so begins a book unlike anything else, a modern retelling of an ancient story. Part Ovid and part True Romance, and narrated by Eros himself, Daphnis and Chloe offers a pulpy meditation on love and beauty, on people triumphing over darkness by wrestling deep within it, on the solace of art, and on the simple but profound pleasure provided to a blind old man as he holds his wife’s hand and listens to an increasingly familiar story.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2026
About the author
Colin McAdam
18 books51 followersColin McAdam was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Denmark, England and Barbados, as well as in several cities in Canada. He studied English and Classics at McGill University and the University of Toronto, and received his PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University in England.
He has written for Harper's Magazine and The Walrus. He lives in Montreal and has a son named Charlie who lives in Australia.
His first novel SOME GREAT THING won the Books in Canada / Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best First Book), and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in the UK.
His second novel FALL was published in 2009
He has written for Harper's Magazine and The Walrus. He lives in Montreal and has a son named Charlie who lives in Australia.
His first novel SOME GREAT THING won the Books in Canada / Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best First Book), and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in the UK.
His second novel FALL was published in 2009
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Review of advance copy
Beautifully written mythology, which isn't exactly my usual go-to read--fairy tales, mythology, fantasy and magical realism are way outside my field of interest, but this did keep me reading to the end. I was interested in the two young people--taken in as abandoned foundlings by two linked sets of childless parents, and growing up in a sort of alternative modern day--and it was a very quick read. The style reminded me of medieval epic poetry, epic sagas--lucid and swaying and very musical--without much time to reflect or absorb, except for the beginning and epilogue. Although it's not a genre I'm drawn to, I'd happily pick up another book by this author who's now living in Canada. 3 1/2 stars.
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October 29, 2026It’s ugly and beautiful. When I finished I turned around and started again. Hard to recommend as so many people will just see the dark. 5⭐️
October 13, 2026
Daphnis and Chloe by Colin McAdam, longlisted for the 2026 Giller Prize, is a modern retelling of an ancient Greek love story, although this is certainly not a straightforward romance.
Set in a city on a remote Pacific island, the story follows Frank and Charlie, two friends who open a garage and marry the women they love, but are unable to have children. When two abandoned babies enter their lives, they become Daphnis and Chloe, and their story unfolds against a backdrop of drugs, pain, love and the darker side of human nature.
Narrated by Eros, the god of love, this is an unusual mixture of fable, literary fiction and something considerably more earthy. McAdam has taken an ancient story and given it a distinctly modern, sometimes uncomfortable edge. There is tenderness and beauty here, but also plenty of darkness.
This is an original and ambitious novel, although its unusual approach and rather strange combination of innocence and brutality may not appeal to everyone. It is an interesting exploration of love, human relationships and the stories people tell themselves, but I found it a book to appreciate more for its ideas than for any simple pleasure in reading it.
A thought-provoking choice for the 2026 Giller Prize longlist, even if it won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Set in a city on a remote Pacific island, the story follows Frank and Charlie, two friends who open a garage and marry the women they love, but are unable to have children. When two abandoned babies enter their lives, they become Daphnis and Chloe, and their story unfolds against a backdrop of drugs, pain, love and the darker side of human nature.
Narrated by Eros, the god of love, this is an unusual mixture of fable, literary fiction and something considerably more earthy. McAdam has taken an ancient story and given it a distinctly modern, sometimes uncomfortable edge. There is tenderness and beauty here, but also plenty of darkness.
This is an original and ambitious novel, although its unusual approach and rather strange combination of innocence and brutality may not appeal to everyone. It is an interesting exploration of love, human relationships and the stories people tell themselves, but I found it a book to appreciate more for its ideas than for any simple pleasure in reading it.
A thought-provoking choice for the 2026 Giller Prize longlist, even if it won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Review of advance copy
This is a loose retelling of the Greek romance tale, sometimes referred to as a myth, written in the 2nd century by Longus. However.. and it’s a big however.. it is spattered by crime and violence, and concerns the ups and downs of a relationship and family in modern times.
On a hardscrabble unnamed Pacific Island reachable only by a weekly ferry, two childless couple adopt babies they find abandoned on the streets. The children, Daphnis and Chloe reach their teen years and are groomed into working for criminal gangs involved with drugs and human trafficking.
I don’t know Longus’s myth, but the narration of the God of Love, Eros, helps give that background, so it’s not an issue. McAdam’s writing enables such an ambitious work to hold together, and to read as a page turner; though it is in effect a crime novel, the writing of even the most brutal scenes hold the kind of beauty associated with the romance it is based on.
It is in effect, a dark fable, short and sharp, though never feeling underdone.
On a hardscrabble unnamed Pacific Island reachable only by a weekly ferry, two childless couple adopt babies they find abandoned on the streets. The children, Daphnis and Chloe reach their teen years and are groomed into working for criminal gangs involved with drugs and human trafficking.
I don’t know Longus’s myth, but the narration of the God of Love, Eros, helps give that background, so it’s not an issue. McAdam’s writing enables such an ambitious work to hold together, and to read as a page turner; though it is in effect a crime novel, the writing of even the most brutal scenes hold the kind of beauty associated with the romance it is based on.
It is in effect, a dark fable, short and sharp, though never feeling underdone.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I just finished reading and I feel broken! And healed! I'm completely in awe of Colin McAdam’s craft, this story, the love that glows so bright at the centre of it all. Every sentence has that achey longing of true beauty to it, and even when he is writing about devastating things -- the worst things, the darkest human things, my heart breaking as my children lay sleeping on top of my legs -- there is still such beauty and love there. It's incredible. There's a review of one of Amy Bloom's books that says every sentence belongs in a sentence museum, and a whole museum should be created for this book. Oh my goodness. It's so epic and simple and modern and ancient and complex and full of wisdom and ahh I could just go on and on. I loved it so, so much and have been telling everyone to buy it. Unfortunately my mum bought it after I'd been raving but before I'd gotten to the point where things get dark but, you know, I think it'll be good for her.
This is the kind of book that makes me feel like nobody needs to write any more books, but that also makes me feel itchy to write again too, to try to capture some of that alchemy, when words turn into feeling.
This is the kind of book that makes me feel like nobody needs to write any more books, but that also makes me feel itchy to write again too, to try to capture some of that alchemy, when words turn into feeling.
November 10, 2026
I just finished reading and I feel broken! And healed! I'm completely in awe of Colin McAdam’s craft, this story, the love that glows so bright at the centre of it all. Every sentence has that achey longing of true beauty to it, and even when he is writing about devastating things -- the worst things, the darkest human things, my heart breaking as my children lay sleeping on top of my legs -- there is still such beauty and love there. It's incredible. There's a review of one of Amy Bloom's books that says every sentence belongs in a sentence museum, and a whole museum should be created for this book. Oh my goodness. It's so epic and simple and modern and ancient and complex and full of wisdom and ahh I could just go on and on. I loved it so, so much and have been telling everyone to buy it. Unfortunately my mum bought it after I'd been raving but before I'd gotten to the point where things get dark but, you know, I think it'll be good for her.
This is the kind of book that makes me feel like nobody needs to write any more books, but that also makes me feel itchy to write again too, to try to capture some of that alchemy, when words turn into feeling.
This is the kind of book that makes me feel like nobody needs to write any more books, but that also makes me feel itchy to write again too, to try to capture some of that alchemy, when words turn into feeling.
Review of advance copy
Perhaps if I knew more about Greek mythology it would have added to the enjoyment of this, or maybe if I'd read it at a different time, not right after the most favourite book I've read this year, it would have changed my enjoyment of it. Honestly, I am surprised it is short-listed for the Giller as there were part of the book, particularly near the end, that were too contrived such as the girl in the trunk--I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone. But if you like books about gangsters, bikers and women being forced into prostitution, and have a deeper knowledge than I do of Greek mythology, then you might like it more than I did. What I did really appreciate was the beauty of the authors use of language.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2026
“Prayers came up in whispers from the water. That she would be happy. That they would be together. An inarticulate prayer beyond the words within his reach that if he should find the courage to cleave life’s fictions and stare at whatever fire lay beyond them, that holding hands or dying alone they would always love the burning.”
A Beautiful and dark book. Every line dripping with poetry and romance. A modern re-telling of the Greek mythology story or the same title, as told by the God Eros set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. It’s a short read, around 180 pages. Absolutely would recommend this, a really moving story.
A Beautiful and dark book. Every line dripping with poetry and romance. A modern re-telling of the Greek mythology story or the same title, as told by the God Eros set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest. It’s a short read, around 180 pages. Absolutely would recommend this, a really moving story.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I really am, generally, not a fan of re-tellings. I just wish that everyone would just tell their own story. Typically I find that authors have to turn themselves into contortionist’s in their attempts to adhere to the structure and character qualities of the originals.
This one was different.
I adored the Prologue on this - and had really high hopes for this title. The Prologue was so tender and touching, with an almost dreamlike feel to it. The story though, well, that’s a whole other experience. I guess at heart it is “romantic” but it’s definitely a tragi-romance… like the original story re-told as a Quentin Tarantino tale… a story of survival and resilience.
MacAdam turns the story into an exploration of the dark underbelly of life - and plunges us into the world of drug dealers, human traffickers, corrupt police and crime lords. As in the original, Daphnis and Chloe do prevail and are together at the end - no spoilers there - but instead of having found each other after a series of idyllic romps, they have each come through their own personal crucible. The Epilogue returns us to the same setting as the Prologue had us in - with a message about the strength of love and the comfort of growing old together.
A short, quick read - under 200 pages - I read this in two sittings… and that was only because dinnertime arrived as I was in the middle of the book, else It likely would have been one sitting. Even as I was deeply discomfited while reading this I didn’t want to stop reading.
Highly recommended read.
4.5 rounded up to 5
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy... even though I'm a little tardy in getting this posted.
This one was different.
I adored the Prologue on this - and had really high hopes for this title. The Prologue was so tender and touching, with an almost dreamlike feel to it. The story though, well, that’s a whole other experience. I guess at heart it is “romantic” but it’s definitely a tragi-romance… like the original story re-told as a Quentin Tarantino tale… a story of survival and resilience.
MacAdam turns the story into an exploration of the dark underbelly of life - and plunges us into the world of drug dealers, human traffickers, corrupt police and crime lords. As in the original, Daphnis and Chloe do prevail and are together at the end - no spoilers there - but instead of having found each other after a series of idyllic romps, they have each come through their own personal crucible. The Epilogue returns us to the same setting as the Prologue had us in - with a message about the strength of love and the comfort of growing old together.
A short, quick read - under 200 pages - I read this in two sittings… and that was only because dinnertime arrived as I was in the middle of the book, else It likely would have been one sitting. Even as I was deeply discomfited while reading this I didn’t want to stop reading.
Highly recommended read.
4.5 rounded up to 5
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy... even though I'm a little tardy in getting this posted.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews