In Every Wave

Overview

A man loses his daughter while swimming one summer. This little gem of a novella—sad and beautiful and spellbinding all at once—is the tale of how he strives to be reunited with her again, whether back home on dry land or thousands of miles underwater. Racked with guilt and doubt, he lingers over her memory, refusing to let her go. He imagines and reimagines the moment she slipped away from him as he searches for her behind every rock, in every bush, in every wave.

Reviews

Five Star Review: "a multi-layered tale of unbearable sadness... impressive." —James Fisher, The Miramichi Reader

"Piercing and compact, Charles Quimper's novella In Every Wave follows a grief-consumed father through a vortex of regret and fragmented fantasies. Here, sorrow is an ocean, and lost possibilities lurk behind every swell (...) Every phrase is a foghorn, and every utterance rasps. Almost too tender to touch..." —Michelle Anne Schingler, Foreword Reviews

"... one of the most touching books I have ever read (...) a real gem." —Winston's Dad

"... a short, heart-rending piece that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned. (...) well worth reading." —Tony's Reading List

"The book is beautifully written, in a translation by Guil Lefebvre that is exemplary." —Lisa Hill, ANZ Litlovers Blog

"A spare, haunting, poetic exploration that touches the depths of parental loss and grief [...] achingly beautiful, strangely fantastic, and keenly disturbing." —Joe Schreiber, The Temz Review

"In Every Wave is beautiful, poetic, and profound." —Naomi MacKinnon, Consumed by Ink

"a picture of tenderness and a true-to-life image of the gaping hole left in the heart by loss." —World Literature Today

Author Biography

Born in Quebec City in 1977, Charles Quimper is a former bookseller and has contributed to a number of magazines. In Every Wave, his first novel, was originally published in French as Marée montante. Guil Lefebvre is a full-time translator based in Quebec City. In Every Wave is his first novel-length translation.