Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year AwardFrom White Review Short Story Prize winner Julia Armfield, a brilliant, provocative debut story collection for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link.In her electrifying debut, Julia Armfield explores women’s experiences in contemporary society, mapped through their bodies. As urban dwellers’ sleeps become disassociated from them, like Peter Pan’s shadow, a city turns insomniac. A teenager entering puberty finds her body transforming in ways very different than her classmates’. As a popular band gathers momentum, the fangirls following their tour turn into something monstrous. After their parents remarry, two step-sisters, one a girl and one a wolf, develop a dangerously close bond. And in an apocalyptic landscape, a pregnant woman begins to realize that the creature in her belly is not what she expected. Blending elements of horror, science fiction, mythology, and feminism, salt slow is an utterly original collection of short stories that are sure to dazzle and shock, heralding the arrival of a daring new voice.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (NPR, The Washington Post, Lit Hub, The Telegraph, Goodreads, Tor.com, them, and more)A FINALIST for the LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD and GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD“A deeply strange and haunting novel in the best possible way…An impressive and exciting debut novel that may leave you thinking about your own relationships in a new light.” —NPR“Shocking…Achingly poetic…Sharp and beautiful as coral polyps…Armfield exercises an exquisite—even sadistic—sense of suspense." —Ron Charles, The Washington Post Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.By turns elegiac and furious, wry and heartbreaking, Our Wives Under the Sea is an exploration of the unknowable depths within each of us, and the love that compels us nevertheless toward one another.

From the BELOVED, AWARD-WINNING author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world“One of my FAVORITE NOVELS of the past few years.” —Jeff VanderMeer, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of AnnihilationIt’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and old rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father, an architect as cruel as he was revered, dies. His death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.The sisters are more estranged than ever, and their lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams, Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling, and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.

A NEW YORK TIMES Editors' Choice!From the BELOVED, AWARD-WINNING author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world“One of my FAVORITE NOVELS of the past few years.” —Jeff VanderMeer, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of AnnihilationIt’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and old rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father, an architect as cruel as he was revered, dies. His death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.The sisters are more estranged than ever, and their lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams, Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling, and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.

"MAGNIFICENT...I could not stop reading it. I loved it." -Charlotte McConaghy, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of Wild Dark Shore"Armfield is an ERA-DEFINING writer." -Kaliane Bradley, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of The Ministry of Time "Armfield writes the kind of books that STICK WITH YOU FOR LIFE." -Kristen Arnett, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of With Teeth From Lambda Literary Award and Goodreads Choice finalist Julia Armfield, a novel following two climbers in the aftermath of an Alpine expedition that goes horribly wrong, pitched as Into Thin Air meets The Haunting of Hill House, by way of Brokeback MountainJune, 1994. The storied Mount Varda has been untouched by mountaineers for decades: the last expedition ended in tragedy. When Liam Holness and Petal Coulson-Carter, best friends and celebrated climbers, are invited to join a team organized by the famous Jim Callaghan to pioneer a new route, they are initially skeptical. Working-class Liam and butch lesbian Petal exist on the outside of mountaineering's privilege, and they have no interest in Jim's media circus.But the call of the mountain is too strong, and soon Liam and Petal are in the French Alps preparing for ascent. Joining them on the expedition is Bill Franklin, Liam's oldest rival, whose sweet nature begins to break down Liam's defenses, while Petal's heart is turned by a climber's widow living in the town. As the expedition looms closer, the climbers begin to experience sleepless nights, bad dreams, and hallucinations. And as they make their way up the mountain, the world gives way to something stranger. With oxygen scarce and the altitude dizzying, how can Liam and Petal be sure of what is real? And will they ever know what happened to those they left behind on the peak?Braiding Liam and Petal's perspectives with Jim's tell-all memoir in the expedition's aftermath, Up to the Light is a heart-pounding adventure story and an aching dual love story, with a horror edge. Gorgeously written, chilling, and entrancing, this novel asks why we are drawn to danger, and how we can find one another again in the wake of unspeakable loss.

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year AwardFrom White Review Short Story Prize winner Julia Armfield, a brilliant, provocative debut story collection for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link.In her electrifying debut, Julia Armfield explores women’s experiences in contemporary society, mapped through their bodies. As urban dwellers’ sleeps become disassociated from them, like Peter Pan’s shadow, a city turns insomniac. A teenager entering puberty finds her body transforming in ways very different than her classmates’. As a popular band gathers momentum, the fangirls following their tour turn into something monstrous. After their parents remarry, two step-sisters, one a girl and one a wolf, develop a dangerously close bond. And in an apocalyptic landscape, a pregnant woman begins to realize that the creature in her belly is not what she expected. Blending elements of horror, science fiction, mythology, and feminism, salt slow is an utterly original collection of short stories that are sure to dazzle and shock, heralding the arrival of a daring new voice.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (NPR, The Washington Post, Lit Hub, The Telegraph, Goodreads, Tor.com, them, and more)A FINALIST for the LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD and GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD“A deeply strange and haunting novel in the best possible way…An impressive and exciting debut novel that may leave you thinking about your own relationships in a new light.” —NPR“Shocking…Achingly poetic…Sharp and beautiful as coral polyps…Armfield exercises an exquisite—even sadistic—sense of suspense." —Ron Charles, The Washington Post Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.By turns elegiac and furious, wry and heartbreaking, Our Wives Under the Sea is an exploration of the unknowable depths within each of us, and the love that compels us nevertheless toward one another.

From the BELOVED, AWARD-WINNING author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world“One of my FAVORITE NOVELS of the past few years.” —Jeff VanderMeer, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of AnnihilationIt’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and old rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father, an architect as cruel as he was revered, dies. His death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.The sisters are more estranged than ever, and their lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams, Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling, and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.

A NEW YORK TIMES Editors' Choice!From the BELOVED, AWARD-WINNING author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world“One of my FAVORITE NOVELS of the past few years.” —Jeff VanderMeer, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of AnnihilationIt’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and old rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father, an architect as cruel as he was revered, dies. His death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.The sisters are more estranged than ever, and their lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams, Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling, and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.

"MAGNIFICENT...I could not stop reading it. I loved it." -Charlotte McConaghy, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of Wild Dark Shore"Armfield is an ERA-DEFINING writer." -Kaliane Bradley, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of The Ministry of Time "Armfield writes the kind of books that STICK WITH YOU FOR LIFE." -Kristen Arnett, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of With Teeth From Lambda Literary Award and Goodreads Choice finalist Julia Armfield, a novel following two climbers in the aftermath of an Alpine expedition that goes horribly wrong, pitched as Into Thin Air meets The Haunting of Hill House, by way of Brokeback MountainJune, 1994. The storied Mount Varda has been untouched by mountaineers for decades: the last expedition ended in tragedy. When Liam Holness and Petal Coulson-Carter, best friends and celebrated climbers, are invited to join a team organized by the famous Jim Callaghan to pioneer a new route, they are initially skeptical. Working-class Liam and butch lesbian Petal exist on the outside of mountaineering's privilege, and they have no interest in Jim's media circus.But the call of the mountain is too strong, and soon Liam and Petal are in the French Alps preparing for ascent. Joining them on the expedition is Bill Franklin, Liam's oldest rival, whose sweet nature begins to break down Liam's defenses, while Petal's heart is turned by a climber's widow living in the town. As the expedition looms closer, the climbers begin to experience sleepless nights, bad dreams, and hallucinations. And as they make their way up the mountain, the world gives way to something stranger. With oxygen scarce and the altitude dizzying, how can Liam and Petal be sure of what is real? And will they ever know what happened to those they left behind on the peak?Braiding Liam and Petal's perspectives with Jim's tell-all memoir in the expedition's aftermath, Up to the Light is a heart-pounding adventure story and an aching dual love story, with a horror edge. Gorgeously written, chilling, and entrancing, this novel asks why we are drawn to danger, and how we can find one another again in the wake of unspeakable loss.