Every Anxious Wave: A Novel

Mo Daviau

Feb 2016 · Macmillan + ORM

About this eBook

“Gives us the intelligent irreverence of Nick Hornby, the honest romance of Gary Shteyngart, and the swoon-worthy charm of a John Cusack movie.” —Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, author of The Sunlit Night

Good guy Karl Bender is a thirty-something bar owner whose life lacks love and meaning. When he stumbles upon a time-travelling wormhole in his closet, Karl and his best friend Wayne develop a side business selling access to people who want to travel back in time to listen to their favorite bands. It’s a pretty ingenious plan, until Karl, intending to send Wayne to 1980, transports him back to 980 instead. Though Wayne sends texts extolling the quality of life in tenth century “Mannahatta,” Karl is distraught that he can’t bring his friend back.

Enter brilliant, prickly, overweight astrophysicist, Lena Geduldig. Karl and Lena’s connection is immediate. While they work on getting Wayne back, Karl and Lena fall in love—with time travel, and each other. Unable to resist meddling with the past, Karl and Lena bounce around time. When Lena ultimately prevents her own long-ago rape, she alters the course of her life and threatens her future with Karl.

A high-spirited and engaging novel, Every Anxious Wave plays ball with the big questions of where we would go and who we would become if we could rewrite our pasts, as well as how to hold on to love across time.

“A bittersweet, century-hopping odyssey of love, laced with weird science, music geekery, and heart-wrenching laughs . . . a wise, witty, whipcrack sci-fi romp about how our passions can both lift us up and hold us back.” —NPR

“A total punk rock time travel novel.” —Mashable

Ratings and reviews

This book was such a fun and touching read. There's enough zaniness to keep you engaged on a surface level but the deeper thread of exploring how our pasts make us who we are and how love can transcend time makes this a book that leaves a mark.

About the author

MO DAVIAU was born in Fresno, California and proclaimed her life goal of publishing a novel at the age of eight. Mo is also a solo performer, having performed at storytelling shows such as Bedpost Confessions and The Soundtrack Series. She is a graduate of Smith College and the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan where Every Anxious Wave won a Hopwood Award. Mo lives in Portland, Oregon. Every Anxious Wave is her first novel.