All the Water in the World
By Eiren Caffall
St. Martin’s Press, 9781250353528, January 7, 2025, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

Compelling and impossible to put aside. I am still thinking about these characters.

The Rest of It:

The glaciers have melted. Nonie and her family take refuge in the American Museum of Natural History. Nonie’s mother was a researcher there. Those who still had keys in their possession made a home for themselves, only taking from the exhibits when absolutely needed. Finding comfort in the memories of the past, they do their best to preserve and record what they can.

Food is grown in Central Park with the help of others, but after the Hypercane storm, which Nonie predicted, their food stores are gone and they barely make it back to the museum as the worst of it hits. Other families, snatched by the horrific winds leave only their startled faces behind as Nonie replays it over and over again in her mind.

All the world is under water. The story alternates between The World as It Was and The World as it Is. Nonie, naturally gifted with the ability to detect the big storms, becomes a crucial piece of this group as they navigate up the Hudson to what they perceive to be a safe place.

Nonie, her older sister Bix, her father and a family friend named Keller, take off in a canoe with packs on their backs and head into the hostile unknown.

I was absolutely riveted by this book. It’s a harrowing tale of survival. The love that this family has for one another, and the lengths they go to protect each other kept me glued to the pages. Their journey is not easy. They encounter danger at every turn, food scarcity, illness and injury.

As they push through, Nonie can’t help but think of the “before”. These memories are sweet and heartbreaking. Her resilience is admirable as she rallies this family of hers with hope for the future.

The writing is amazing and relentless. Caffall takes you by the hand and doesn’t let go. YOU are in that canoe, feeling those hunger pains, terrified of what tomorrow brings. If the glaciers melted tomorrow this story would be our reality. Terrifying and brutal.

Who do they encounter? Who do they lose along the way? How does one survive when everything is covered in water?

Apocalyptic stories can be too heavy but this one has hope written all over it. It comes out January 7th! Highly recommend. It will be on my fave list at the end of the year.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.