Under Water: Shortlisted for the Debut Fiction Prize 2026 by Tara Menon

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2026

A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK 

A VOGUE BEST DEBUT 2026

‘Stunning’ Sunday Times

‘Profoundly moving’ Elif Shafak (on Instagram)

'A wonderfully heartfelt debut’ Marie-Claire

‘Writing is pristine. Brava, Tara Menon, this is a beauty!’ Elin Hilderbrand (on Instagram)

A stunning and deeply moving novel of grief, loss and female friendship, set against the backdrop of two cataclysmic natural events

When six-year-old Marissa loses her mother, she is taken by her father to live on a small Thai island in the Andaman Sea. There, she forms a deep friendship with Arielle and together they explore the fragile wonders of its forests, reefs, and beaches. Holding their breath for minutes at a time, they learn to dive into the deep, as effortlessly synchronized as the manta rays they come to know by name. Then, on Boxing Day 2004, when the Indian Ocean tsunami makes landfall, they are swept up by the first wave and separated.

Eight years later, Marissa is living in New York. She spends her days wandering through the city and her nights seeking solace in the beds of strangers. As the city prepares for a devastating storm, Marissa reflects on her past and learns how to sustain herself in a precarious world.

Under Water is a story about friendship and grief, but also ecological change and natural disasters. It is a meditation on loss, a tribute to our dying oceans and forests, and a love letter to the disappearing coral reefs.

‘The horrors of 2004 are told with verve in this debut about a woman haunted by survivor guilt . . . there are stunning descriptions of island wildlife . . . Tara Menon tells the story with confidence and style’ Sunday Times