Adrift: A Novel

Lisa Brideau

May 2023 · Sourcebooks, Inc.

About this ebook

Evergreen Award Winner

The Strand Critics Awards Best Debut Nominee

Crime Writers of Canada Best First Novel Award Finalist

Off the storm-lashed coast of the Pacific Northwest, Ess regains consciousness with no recollection of who she is or why she's alone on a sailboat in the wilderness. Her only clue is a chilling typewritten note—cryptic and urgent—and the instinctive knowledge of how to sail, survive, and stay invisible.

The world she sails into is at a tipping point. In 2038, climate change is pushing people to the limit, driving more and more to flee storms, drought, and rising seas. The earth is precariously balanced at a climate tipping point and Ess is perched on the edge of a choice. Haunted by the alarming clues about who she was before and hunted by forces she doesn't understand, Ess must decide whether to vanish for good or risk everything to confront the truth.

Adrift is a genre-bending blend of character-driven psychological suspense, speculative mystery, and climate fiction. It's a novel about memory, identity, and who we become when the past is out of reach.

"Crackles with urgency and humanity...a book made to meet the moment. A must read." —Katie Lattari, author of Dark Things I Adore

"Fast-paced, riveting...a great read." —Booklist

Ratings and reviews

Highly recommending! It had me hooked from the very beginning. Extremely well written, entertaining, and thought provoking! Thoughts about how our world could look in the near future; about extreme PTSD therapy (pros and cons for it); about how we define our SELF. Lisa Brideau, looking forward to your next novel please!

I loved the setting and the pace which gradually picks up through the novel. Overall this is a story of hope and friendship with elements of suspense to keep things spicy, and some pretty realistic cli-fi.

A fast read that draws you in and keeps you there. Nice character development, and the climate changed near future she describes hits chillingly close to home. A great read.