Long Wave

by Daisy Johnson, Unknown Author

Hardcover

About the author

The 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)

Reviews

[Professor Weasel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was incredibly written - such forceful poetic prose. This must have been an incredibly difficult book to plan and structure. I love the theme of time happening simultaneously. The closing chapter is so, so beautiful. And I loved the depiction of the hell that is the newborn stage. She writes so well about sensory details. Everyone in this book is always sweaty and salty and greasy from eating too many chips and either too hot or cold. Loved the hare guy - would have loved to see more of him.

I did think the Edith (grandma) POV in the book was unncesarry; I didn't see what she contributed to the main narrative at all. And the Leo POV mainly seemed to exist to meet Eva, so that it could be explained how Eva is connected to JP. But since we have Eva's POV, did we need Leo's? Whatever, I'm sure someone advised her to do this, so that it wasn't this random character who solved the book's main problem. I also didn't like how the main depiction of "community childcare" was having older siblings help with the younger ones. If I was meant to see this as "wow, what an ideal solution," I did not. But maybe it was supposed to be more along the lines of "look how desperate they are, they have no choice." I also didn't really understand what the point of the island was - a metaphor for escape? And... what exactly happened at the point when the Ori/teenage Ruth timelines overlap? Did teenage Ruth 'save' Ori somehow? I think this should have been more explicit. Or maybe it was and I was just too bobita to get it.

In any case, she can really write, and I am 100% here to support the millenial writers of my generation grappling with the mind-exploding experience that is motherhood. This would be a good book to read alongside Graham Swift's Waterland.

[Bethany Harcourt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy Johnson's Long Wave is a beautifully written exploration of motherhood across three generations of women. Through mothers, daughters, friends and grandmothers, she examines how love, loss, trauma and resilience ripple through families, while the island itself becomes an extension of the women's inner worlds.

The island is not simply a backdrop in this story, but a living presence, reflecting the changing tides of motherhood and grief.

Johnson's writing is gorgeous. Every sentence feels carefully crafted, creating an atmosphere that is both haunting and tender. Although the novel explores immense pain, there is an enduring sense of hope woven through its pages.

Trigger warning: The book contains depictions of postnatal depression, suicidal ideation and intrusive thoughts of harming an infant, which some readers, particularly those who are pregnant or postpartum, may find distressing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Matthew DuMont]

Wonderful

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a nice story, very easy read, makes we wanna explore more books by the author