The River Brings the Sea
The River Brings the Sea
Ali Thurm
Paperback
Pre-order now: for delivery late November
The UK is under water. Society has collapsed. Oppression reigns. Who can you trust?
When the floods came, they washed away the world as we knew it. Cities drowned, nations splintered, and the UK became a broken archipelago of flooded ruins and lawless frontiers. Amid the collapse, NOAH – a brutal theocratic movement – seized power, ruling by fear and public punishment. Survival now depends not on strength alone, but on who you choose to trust.
Anna and Robbie have already lost almost everything. Fleeing the waterlogged ruins of London, they journey north among thousands of refugees until they find the Mill: a small, self-sufficient community clinging to hope in deepest Cumbria. Food is scarce, winters are deadly, but here there is work, dignity and a fragile peace.
Then, a starving young woman and her child arrive at their door. Nula is clearly hiding something. Her daughter, Jamila, is terrified of men. And within weeks of their arrival, people begin to go missing.
As suspicion spreads, loyalties fracture and old traumas resurface, Anna must confront both the ghosts of her past and the threat closing in from the flooded world beyond. In a land reclaimed by water, how far will she go to save her friends, the man she loves – and the slim chance of a future for them all?
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Imprint: Lendal Press
Published: November 2025
ISBN: 9781915606631
Catalogue no: LP0022
Page count: 288
Trim size: 198 x 129 mm
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Praise for The River Brings the Sea:
"A cli-fi page-turner, The River Brings the Sea tells a compelling story of England in flood, set in a rain-soaked Lake District during a winter of shortages and rising fear. For the small community at the story's centre, questions we debate today – who can you trust, what to risk, how to treat strangers seeking refuge, and what pushes people into extremism – become critical matters of survival."
— Fiona Moore
"A haunting, lyrical novel, The River Brings the Sea offers a tense and tender portrait of community and survival when the world as we know it is washed away. This is rural gothic reimagined for a drowned future – a dystopian landscape of loss and resilience in the aftermath of climate collapse, where relationships are the only shelter left in the face of the flood."
— Rhiannon Bull
About the author
Ali Thurm is originally from Newcastle-upon-Tyne but now lives in London, and spends her time between Ealing and Cumbria. Her first novel, One Scheme of Happiness, was shortlisted for the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize in 2017, the Cinnamon Debut Novel Award in 2018, and was published by Retreat West Books in 2020. Her unpublished novel, Jacob’s Ladder, was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award in 2017. The River Brings the Sea placed third in the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize in 2019.