All the Water in the World is a new novel (published January 2025) that I immediately put on hold at the library. It fit so well into my water theme! It fits well in March- women's month- as the author Eiren Caffall is a woman. AND, the main character is also female AND - the narrator for the audiobook is fantastic Eunice Wong! so... how did I feel about this?
Well, I really liked this book a lot! I would not have picked it up- but for the water theme, and I am glad I did. (the benefit of having a theme right here..) In Short we have:
-Original plot/narrative
-Coming of age
-Climate fiction "Cli-fi" if you will
-Great narration
No Spoiler summary: .
Nonie is a young girl who has lived most of her life on top of the NY museum of natural History because water has flooded most ground making it less livable and not always safe. She's an unusual child, one that readers may or may not recognize themselves in, depending on the reader. After a particularly bad flooding, Nonie and her family make a journey north to find drier ground. As one might imagine, the journey is adventure and peril in equal measure, and it's also a bit of a coming of age for Nonie as she must face loss, make decisions, and learns that some things that look safe are really just menace in disguise.
What happens for Nonie and her family? Well, that would be the spoiler part.
This book was inspired by museum curators in Iraq and Leningrad during times of war, who worked to preserve history for future generations. Interestingly, this really isn't the main focus of the book and I appreciated how the author took that inspiration and then moved into a different, but related direction. Curators preserved items of significance in hopes that future generations would be able to enjoy and learn from them and that the items would remains touchpoints for community. While Nonie isn't dragging the blue whale up the coast, she's learning and deciding about different ways people can act in times of disaster, and which way might create the most success for everyone involved.
When I started reading, I was intrigued as the entire setting of the book was quirky and odd, but I wasn't truly invested I kept reminding myself I was just reading for the water theme, but then, suddenly, at about 35-40% in to the book, I couldn't put it down! And to be honest, it was moving a bit slow up to that point, so while the build up and end was great in hindsight, in the midpoint, I wasn't so sure. I was sneaking in bits of the audio at the oddest times, making sure things were going like I wanted them to for Nonie. ( but oh they didn't always go the way I hoped!) I enjoyed a tour of the New York area of the future and while the author is not NY based, she had a good grasp of the areas, and I love love loved that! The plotting was really very good, and the build-up and crescendo was great- especially as this is a debut novel for Caffall. I have to admit there was a moment when I felt certain that things would not end very well, but the author skillfully brings us to a gentle conclusion that's hopeful but realistic - something we need in our current times.
This is NOT a 'Romantasy' and thank goodness for that, it was such a relief to read a book that didn't have a recycled plot. So if you enjoy literary fiction, and are looking for a book that's engaging with the issues of the day and interpersonal dynamics, I highly recommend picking this up. It is dubbed as a thriller, and I didn't really find it to be thriller-y at all, so if you want a thriller, this probably is not the book for you. There is a gentleness in the writing that is maybe at odds with the topic, but at the same time, for me, just sort of fit the narrative especially coming from a child's POV. I do recommend the audiobook because Eunice Wong is an excellent narrator, she brings the story to life, no matter what the topic.
This book does have some mixed reviews, and I suspect people were expecting something more "action-packed" for me the perspective of Nonie was fabulous- and really captured my experiences of being that age (though thankfully I was not living on top of a museum canoeing through the Hudson in dirty foul water) I hope you'll give this book a try, and let me know your thoughts. This is one I am definitely suggesting for the book club!
STATS
First Published 2025
Pages: 304
Available as an Audio Book : YES
Trigger Warnings: Medical situations, Storms, child death, death, gun violence, parent death, racism,
(this is not a full list, read responsibly)
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