Lulu Miller – författare

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025.

The profound and life-affirming memoir about finding our way in a chaotic world.

'A sumptuous, surprising, dark delight' Carmen Maria Machado

'Her book took me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was smitten' NYT

As the daughter of a scientist, Lulu Miller was taught that chaos will come for us all. There is no cosmic destiny, no grand plan. But years later, reeling from heartbreak, she stumbles upon the story of David Starr Jordan - a fearless taxonomist devoted to order.

Looking to cure her crisis of confidence, Lulu is intrigued by the hubris of this mighty biologist, who refused to admit defeat when lightning struck his laboratory and earthquakes shattered his collection. Until, digging deeper, she makes a startling discovery. One that will upend her wish for a neatly catalogued existence and reveal the profound beauty of embracing chaos.

PRAISE FOR WHY FISH DON'T EXIST:

'Shimmering' Guardian

'Astonishing' Prospect

'Compelling' The Times

'Fascinating' Daily Mail

'Revelatory' Women's Prize for Non-Fiction

'Magical' Susan Orlean

'Perfect' Mary Roach

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025: the profound and life-affirming memoir about finding our way in a chaotic world

'A sumptuous, surprising, dark delight' Carmen Maria Machado

'Fast-moving, deftly balanced, full of surprises' Guardian's Book of the Day

'A bold and original blend of memoir and science' Elizabeth Buchanan

If fish don't exist, what else do we have wrong?

As a child, Lulu Miller's scientist father taught her that chaos will come for us all. There is no cosmic destiny, no plan. Enter David Starr Jordan, 19th-century taxonomist and believer in order. A fish specialist devoted to mapping out the great tree of life, who spent his days pinning down unruly fins, studying shimmering scales and sealing new discoveries into jars of ethanol.

At a time when Lulu's life is unravelling, David Starr Jordan beckons. Reading about Jordan's sheer perseverance after an earthquake shattered his collection, Lulu stumbles upon an unexpected antidote to life's unpredictability. But lurking behind the lore of this mighty taxonomist lies a darker tale waiting to be told: one about the human cost of attempting to define the form of things unknown.

This is a story unlike any other you've read before. It's about a very tall man with a walrus moustache, the injustices and unexpected deliverances of the universe, love that strikes like lightning and about why fish don't exist after all.