Shark Heart

Trade Paperback – new

A New York Times Editors Choice
A USA TODAY Bestseller
A Booklist Editors Choice
A Goodreads Choice Award Nominee

A beautifully written (Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of All the Light We Cannot See) debut novel of marriage, motherhood, metamorphosis, and letting go, this intergenerational love story begins with newlyweds Wren and her husband, Lewisa man who, over the course of nine months, transforms into a great white shark.

For Lewis and Wren, their first year of marriage is also their last. A few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. He will retain most of his consciousness, memories, and intellect, but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark. As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean, his complicated artists heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams.

At first, Wren internally resists her husbands fate. Is there a way for them to be together after Lewis changes? Then, a glimpse of Lewiss developing carnivorous nature activates long-repressed memories for Wren, whose story vacillates between her childhood living on a houseboat in Oklahoma, her time with her college ex-girlfriend, and her unusual friendship with a woman pregnant with twin birds. Woven throughout this heart-wringing (Adam Roberts, internationally bestselling author of Salt) novel is the story of Wrens mother, Angela, who becomes pregnant with Wren at fifteen in an abusive relationship amidst her parents crumbling marriage. In the present, all of Wrens grief eventually collides, and she is forced to make an impossible choice.

A sweeping love story that is at once lyrical and funny, airy and visceral, Shark Heart is an unforgettable, gorgeous novel about lifes perennial questions, the fragility of memories, finding joy amidst grief, and creating a meaningful life. This daring debut marks the arrival of a wildly talented new writer abounding with originality, humor, and heart.