Underwater

A powerful story of friendship, loss and the courage to take a breath again.

When six-year-old Marissa loses her mother, she and her father, a passionate marine biologist, move to the other side of the world. There, she meets Arielle, who is the same age, and they become inseparable friends. Together they grow up, admiring the fragile beauty of the reefs, forests and beaches. They learn to dive deep below the surface and swim in the crystal-clear waters with a fever of manta rays, each with its own name. The sea is their second home and the girls know when its embrace is safe and when it's time to head quickly to shore. But then a wave comes that sweeps away everything they have ever known and loved, and Marissa's life is turned into a wasteland.

Several years later, an adult Marissa wanders through New York, drowning in memories of the past. During two fateful days, when the elements once again threaten to destroy everything she cares about, Marissa finally discovers how to move on with her life.

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Tara Menon has beautifully captured the power of a lost friendship and the extraordinary natural world in which that friendship was born. Her debut, Submerge, is an extraordinary, captivating, and painful book.
— Claire Messud, author

Submerge is a novel of remarkable fragility and strength. It is about grief, friendship, home, and longing. Tara Menon uses exquisite language, colourful yet precise, to hold a world in every sentence.
— Katie Kitamura, author