Otter Music

by Karen Joy Fowler

FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES

If you couldn't save the world, she'd written, you should still save whatever you could, words she still lived by.

When Lainey Miller's dad began believing in lizard people who sought world domination, her mom decided that Lainey needed to be a person who believed in verifiable data. So began a lifelong pursuit and love of science, of the beauty of the natural world and its wildlife.

Through her work, Lainey finds stillness in a world humming with change, a world that she believes - despite the constant news cycle of destruction and cruelty - has an infinite capacity for kindness. A love letter to community, to learning, and to life itself, Karen Joy Fowler's new novella points towards the glimmer of hope on the horizon, urging us to stay for the view.

Genres: Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 4, 2027

About the author

Karen Joy Fowler is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels and three short story collections. Her 2004 novel, The Jane Austen Book Club, spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and was a New York Times Notable Book. Fowler’s previous novel, Sister Noon, was a finalist for the 2001 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. Her debut novel, Sarah Canary, won the Commonwealth medal for best first novel by a Californian, was listed for the Irish Times International Fiction Prize as well as the Bay Area Book Reviewers Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book. Fowler’s short story collection Black Glass won the World Fantasy Award in 1999, and her collection What I Didn’t See won the World Fantasy Award in 2011. Her most recent novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction and was short-listed for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Her new novel Booth published in March 2022.

She is the co-founder of the Otherwise Award and the current president of the Clarion Foundation (also known as Clarion San Diego). Fowler and her husband, who have two grown children and seven grandchildren, live in Santa Cruz, California. Fowler also supports a chimp named Caesar who lives at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone.

Reviews

[DeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story itself is somber and not full of action. It has some light and humorous moments, but it is mostly brooding and introspective. It is a quiet think piece, a slice of life, a peer into one woman's search for meaning in her life. Set in one of my favorite places on earth, Lainey lives alone with her dog Ozzy, researching sea otters at UC Santa Cruz. While the story is philosophical and at times melancholy, I loved the message of hope and of believing that humans are ultimately a good species that loves and has compassion, despite what we have done to the environment and each other.

I'm not sure there is a more perfectly written book for someone like me. To say I could relate to the main character would be a vast understatement. I, too, grew up in Northern California, went to Monterey Bay Aquarium as a child and fell in love with the sea otters, felt like a complete outcast throughout childhood, and ended up studying sea otters in grad school. It was my biggest accomplishment in academia to present at a nationwide conference on conservation programs of sea otters. I think the only gripe I had about this book was I wish it was much longer. I wish it was a full size novel that delved deeper into these characters' lives.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75⭐

This was such an unexpectedly amazing read - the cover for this immediately drew me in and the story was so unique. It really just feels like you are dropped inside Lainey’s head for 150 pages and then the end. I wish so badly this was a full 300+ page book because I genuinely just want more time with these characters and in this world. Lainey and her family are so interesting to read about with the dynamic they have with each other, especially with Lainey being the only one who actually remembers their dad.

And bonus, otters!

Overall, definitely worth the read, especially with how quick it is.

Thank you to Putnam and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this novella more than I did. I think it actually suffered from being a novella instead of a full-fledged novel as I felt like there wasn't enough time for the author to fully connect the pieces of the story past and present.