A Best Book of the Year at NPR, The Guardian , The Times (London), and The Irish Times A Best Book of January: O Magazine A Most Anticipated Book of 2021: Paperback Paris Most Anticipated at The Guardian , The Sunday Times , Cosmopolitan , Good Housekeeping , The Irish Times , Stylist , and iNews "[Moss] writes beautifully about. souls in tumult, about people whose lives have not turned out the way they''d hoped.There''s little doubt, reading Moss, that you''re in the hands of a sophisticated and gifted writer." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Cunning and contemplative." -- O Magazine "Pulsing, glorious. What makes Moss''s work so distinctive: the lovely countermelodies of earth, animal, and sky that contextualize human dramas." --Annalisa Quinn, NPR "Sarah Moss has an uncanny ability to prickle the reader''s skin.The novel''s explosive conclusion feels like witnessing swamp gas bubbling to the surface and catching fire.
" --Lorraine Berry, The Boston Globe "The chapters build a superb sense of foreboding. Ms. Moss is masterly with loomings and premonitions." -- Wall Street Journal "The final paragraph of Summerwater is one of the most chilling in recent memory, pointing to the devastating consequences of bigotry and hatred, and to the undeniable mastery of Moss''s storytelling." -- The Chicago Review of Books "Sharp, searching, thoroughly imagined, Summerwater is utterly of the moment, placing its anxious human dots against a vast, indifferent landscape; with its wit and verve and beautiful organization, it throws much contemporary writing into the shade!" --Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror & the Light "A rich parade of inner lives . [Ang to the devastating consequences of bigotry and hatred, and to the undeniable mastery of Moss''s storytelling." -- The Chicago Review of Books "Sharp, searching, thoroughly imagined, Summerwater is utterly of the moment, placing its anxious human dots against a vast, indifferent landscape; with its wit and verve and beautiful organization, it throws much contemporary writing into the shade!" --Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror & the Light "A rich parade of inner lives . [Ang to the devastating consequences of bigotry and hatred, and to the undeniable mastery of Moss''s storytelling.
" -- The Chicago Review of Books "Sharp, searching, thoroughly imagined, Summerwater is utterly of the moment, placing its anxious human dots against a vast, indifferent landscape; with its wit and verve and beautiful organization, it throws much contemporary writing into the shade!" --Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror & the Light "A rich parade of inner lives . [Ang to the devastating consequences of bigotry and hatred, and to the undeniable mastery of Moss''s storytelling." -- The Chicago Review of Books "Sharp, searching, thoroughly imagined, Summerwater is utterly of the moment, placing its anxious human dots against a vast, indifferent landscape; with its wit and verve and beautiful organization, it throws much contemporary writing into the shade!" --Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror & the Light "A rich parade of inner lives . [A Light "A rich parade of inner lives . [A] thoughtful investigation into community and difference." -- The Guardian "This broodingly suspenseful and engagingly intimate novel is a miniature portrait of family life in various forms, of old age and childhood, framed by wild nature, which becomes a character in itself . With consummate skill, the author reveals the inner lives of a handful of characters, their meditations by turns intensely moving and laconically humorous . while conjuring up both landscape and atmosphere with lyrical delicacy.
" -- Kirkus , starred review "Will leave you breathless." -- Good Housekeeping , The Best Books to Read in 2021 So Far "The natural world is a dominant force in this absorbing novel . Moss''s insight into her characters'' inner lives is among the many strengths of Summerwater . For more than a decade, Sarah Moss has been crafting quiet, complex novels that make an indelible impression on the reader. This is one of her best, and most accessible, and should bring her work to a wider audience." --John Boyne, Irish Times "Nothing escapes Sarah Moss''s sly humor and brilliant touch. Deft and brimming with life, Summerwater is a novel of endless depth. A masterpiece.
" --Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist "Building up a sense of dread in a novel is a subtle art, and Sarah Moss is an absolute master of it . It certainly feels like an accurate reflection of our confused, scared, angsty present. Perhaps Moss''s point, though, is that we''re all so busy worrying about the things we can''t influence we''ve lost sight of the things we can." --Roger Cox, The Scotsman "When it comes to the workings of the secret heart, and the exchange between mind and body, this is a writer with few equals (I''m thinking of Anne Enright and Han Kang and not many others) . This a writer in whose gifts we trust, and she pulls off feat after feat of daring and empathy and wisdom." --Andrew Meehan, Herald Scotland "There is a sense of unease from the beginning of the novel, that builds--almost imperceptibly--to a deafening thrum of dread, and by the time I reached the end of the novel I could hardly breathe. So, so good." --Alice O''Keeffe, The Bookseller "From the author of Ghost Wall comes another taut psychological novel tinged with menace .
Sarah Moss roves across a wide cast of characters, dipping into internal worlds marked by anxiety--from casual grumbling about the wrong type of people moving into the area to a newlywed husband''s obsession (unshared by his wife) with simultaneous orgasm. With uncanny insight and wit, Sarah Moss weaves this polyphony of voices into unfolding tragedy, and a meditation with broader social and political implications." --Cameron Woodhead, The Sydney Morning Herald "Moss heaps up the pointers to something terrible with the cruel skill of a horror technician. By the midpoint, reading feels as stressful and claustrophobic as any wet-weather getaway, and just as impossible to get out of before the appalling end . The world is getting worse. Moss, though, only seems to be growing more brilliant." --Sarah Ditum, The Times (UK) "Moss is a writer who can say more than most others in half the space. Her latest, a haunting story of alienation set on a Scottish campsite, is the summer''s most interesting read.
" -- Independent (UK) "Slim but electrifying. Moss takes us inside each of the characters'' minds brilliantly effectively." -- The Times (UK) "Masterful. Wickedly funny virtuosic writing [withd most accessible, and should bring her work to a wider audience." --John Boyne, Irish Times "Nothing escapes Sarah Moss''s sly humor and brilliant touch. Deft and brimming with life, Summerwater is a novel of endless depth. A masterpiece." --Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist "Building up a sense of dread in a novel is a subtle art, and Sarah Moss is an absolute master of it .
It certainly feels like an accurate reflection of our confused, scared, angsty present. Perhaps Moss''s point, though, is that we''re all so busy worrying about the things we can''t influence we''ve lost sight of the things we can." --Roger Cox, The Scotsman "When it comes to the workings of the secret heart, and the exchange between mind and body, this is a writer with few equals (I''m thinking of Anne Enright and Han Kang and not many others) . This a writer in whose gifts we trust, and she pulls off feat after feat of daring and empathy and wisdom." --Andrew Meehan, Herald Scotland "There is a sense of unease from the beginning of the novel, that builds--almost imperceptibly--to a deafening thrum of dread, and by the time I reached the end of the novel I could hardly breathe. So, so good." --Alice O''Keeffe, The Bookseller "From the author of Ghost Wall comes another taut psychological novel tinged with menace . Sarah Moss roves across a wide cast of characters, dipping into internal worlds marked by anxiety--from casual grumbling about the wrong type of people moving into the area to a newlywed husband''s obsession (unshared by his wife) with simultaneous orgasm.
With uncanny insight and wit, Sarah Moss weaves this polyphony of voices into unfolding tragedy, and a meditation with broader social and political implications." --Cameron Woodhead, The Sydney Morning Herald "Moss heaps up the pointers to something terrible with the cruel skill of a horror technician. By the midpoint, reading feels as stressful and claustrophobic as any wet-weather getaway, and just as impossible to get out of before the appalling end . The world is getting worse. Moss, though, only seems to.