This beautifully written book about a young woman’s life on a desolate island, and the changes wrought when mainlanders come to study them was a very interesting read. I went in a little blind, not really knowing what to expect, and really enjoyed this book and the authors writing style.

The isolated island life was portrayed so succinctly, the characters were well developed, and the atmosphere felt true to the time frame it takes place in.

This was a great historical fiction book, easy to read and engrossing. I enjoyed it highly and can’t wait to read more of this authors work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth O'Connor's "Whale Fall" is a beautiful novel that grabs your attention with it's almost poetic prose. Set on a remote Welsh island in 1938, the story centers around Manod, a young woman wishing for life outside of her small island.

O'Connor's writing is lyrical. She paints a picture of the beauty and harshness of the island that make it a character in itself. The characters are equally well-drawn. Though they have a life completely apart from any known to the modern western world, they are relatable. We are drawn into Manod's struggle as she tries to decide between loyalty to her family and community, and her desire for a world she only knows from stories. The arrival of two anthropologists from the mainland at first seems like her best escape, but as the story unfolds she learns that perhaps you can not always trust what you see. Manod is forced to understand that not all people are what they say, and that the way of life on her island is something worth fighting to protect. She learns that she is proud of who she is and where she comes from, even though she longs for more in her life.

"Whale Fall" is a deeply moving story that will stay with you. At its core, it is a story of belonging, loss, and the search for one's place in the world.

It’s difficult for me to review this book because I think it is beautifully written and will be appreciated by the right reader, but it was just too literary for my taste. Manod was a complex & interesting character and I absolutely loved the cover art. Thank you to Knopf & NetGalley for this advance copy.

I received whale fall as an arc through Pantheon. This story is about a teen girl who is trapped between loving the small island she is from and having pride in it, while also desperately wanting to leave and do bigger things, This story was set pre-ww2 and this looming feeling of the war coming is shown throughout the story and also shows how isolated the community is from the world as they know very little about it and current events, The main character Manod becomes “employed” through the researchers that come to the island but she also seems to form a bit of an obsession with them and the idea of leaving the island, As the story progresses you see how things change in their relationships. This story gave an array of emotions and was written so well, I felt for Manod so often and I think the setting of this story was just perfect. I highly recommended this quiet but emotional story!

Whale Fall is a historical fiction coming of age story. Main character Manod lives on a small island with a dwindling population. When a whale washes up on shore and attracts the attention of some nefarious characters, the story takes a turn. This premise, which is seemingly bland from the outside, is so wholesome on the inside.

The writing was beautiful and dramatic but the story was sadly not compelling to me. I had difficulty relating to the characters or the plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Gorgeous prose in a short and effective novel. evocative and compelling even though you saw the heartbreak coming

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

The author is a wonderfully evocative writer, however, there is almost no plot and I wasn't drawn to the characters at all. Perhaps that's due to the shortness of the book. I wanted to like this more than I did. The publisher's description pretty much tells you the whole story.

The writing is beautiful and I usually love the vignette style and character-driven literary fiction. That said, I had a really hard time staying interested in the plot of WHALE FALL, in which 18 year-old Manod works as a translator for researchers who arrive to her small island to study a beached whale that washed ashore. It’s a very quiet and subtle historical fiction but unfortunately I didn’t connect with any of the characters.

Elizabeth O’Connor does, however, transport you to the picturesque small island and that is no small feat. I just needed a bit more from the book, either about Manod or her sister, or the researchers themselves, who felt mysterious.

I gave WHALE FALL three stars because although I didn’t connect with it, and it was painfully difficult for me to get through, it’s beautifully written and I might come back to it sometime when I’m in the mood for this kind of novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Pantheon for the advance digital copy of WHALE FALL in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this one, but alas, it didn't work for me. I love a good island setting, and I generally love historical fiction so I was hoping this would be a great one to read. I think what didn't work for me, though, was the writing style. I really am not a fan of vignette-style storytelling, and this one was basically all told in that style. Vignettes make a story feel disjointed to me, and just makes it really hard to properly invest in the flow and narrative of a story. If you don't mind vignettes in your novels, I think you'd enjoy this one!

This is a quietly lovely historical coming of age tale, set in pre-WWII, a glimpse into another place and time, a small island where the population is dwindling as those who are able move to the mainland. Manod is close to her family, while at the same time, searching for more without knowing exactly what it is she wants for herself, her life. Life on the island is routine, for the most part, but somewhere inside of her is a desire for more, even if she hasn’t yet determined what it is that she wants for her future. Torn between wanting a life that would offer her more than she will ever have on this island, while her heart reminds her of the things she loves about this place, her loyalty to family and how that extends to home and history, all her memories are tied to this place. And yet, still, she is torn.

When a whale washes up on their shore it naturally attracts attention, not only from the locals, but as time passes it draws in others who come from the mainland and beyond. Soon a man and woman arrive on a boat, and seemingly befriend her for a time, but their motives prove to be questionable.

A beautifully written, quietly lovely story that was impossible to put down and one I won’t soon forget.


Pub Date: 07 May 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Pantheon

What a lovely novel! I thoroughly enjoyed WHALE FALL and will be recommending it to fans of literary fiction. The author's writing style is very appealing; there's not a wasted word and she conveys a strong sense of place. I felt immersed in each scene as though I too were on a remote Welsh island. Manod is an intriguing main character whom I felt I wanted to know more about. In some ways this is a coming of age story but it feels remarkably fresh and different. This is elegant story-telling at its best.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance e-galley; all opinions in this review are completely my own.

So much in such a small book. It is beautifully succinct. The isolation that Manod feels and her deep desire for more bleeds through the pages. This book gave me all the feels. A coming of age story as well as a tale of colonialism.

Thank you Net Galley for the advance copy of this book. Wonderful writing, interesting story. Can't wait for more from this author.

I really enjoyed "Whale Fall" by Elizabeth O'Connor. Her sparse writing style conveys a lot about the island settings and characters without excess. Manod and Llinos are engaging and poignant characters. The descriptions of life 5 miles off the mainland and how news and changes were delayed were really interesting. I enjoyed the symbolism of the birds and the whale. The portrayal of two English researchers was poignant and compelling. This book is highly recommended.

This is the sort of book that you could read, and enjoy, as a charming, vaguely historical, slightly exotic, coming of age tale. Or, you could probably use it as a basic text for a graduate level literature course, unpeeling it layer by subtle and delicious layer. Our heroine, Manod, is smart, independent, perceptive, and not easily taken in or misled. She is tempted by the siren call of the Mainland. She is both virtuous and achingly human, and as such acts as the ground and center of this novel. So, read it as a statement about female agency. Read it as a sly commentary on British imperialism. Read it as a rather withering take on the condescension of academic ethnography. Read it as a tale of family grief and unity, exploring bonds between father and daughter, sisters, or children of a lost Mam. Enjoy its frank and exuberant Welshness, (a key element of its appeal that should not be overlooked). And of course, go nuts interpreting how the whale fits into every level of the story. I loved this book, but I especially enjoyed playing around with what it is really about. (Hint: probably not about lobster fishing, but who knows.) A wonderful treat.

Taking place on a remote Welsh island, Whale Fall follows a young girl after two foreign scholars take an interest in her.

The writing in this book isn't overdone, especially for such a short book, everything is somewhat sparse. However, there is a beautiful sense of place, as well as character. Manod is so well drawn, and O'Connor only needs a few paragraphs for the reader to invest in each of her relationships, to understand how Manod relates to those around her. Even prior to the action of the book, I enjoyed reading about Manod's daily life.

This book definitely took a little while to get into, as I don't normally read historical fiction. I definitely recommend it to fans of coming-of-age novels.

Set on a remote Welsh island this book creates an interesting view of culture and family. A great view of how a small town reacts to strangers and how one's view of their community is so different then what others see. A story of growing up and wondering if there is more and yet not wanting to lose their history. A riveting story with so many dynamics written as if you feel you are there. My first novel was by Elizabeth O'Connor and I was not disappointed.

O’Connor’s debut novel is a stunning portrait of life on a pre-World War II Welsh island, but more than that, it is the tale of Manod, a young woman longing for a life larger than the island can provide, while simultaneously fiercely loyal to the island, its history, and her family.

Whale Fall is beautifully written and the island, its folklore, and its people come alive through O’Connor’s mesmerizing prose. You can’t help but root for Manod as she comes to the slow realization that the visitors to her small island home may not have her best interests at heart. Although a quiet story, I absolutely could not put it down, and I wasn’t ready to leave the island so soon.

Many thanks to Pantheon Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

First of all, thanks to Netgalley and Pantheon for letting me read an eARC of Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor. The novel was an amazing read that I was able to get through rather quickly due to the characters and worldbuilding. Both of which had me absorbed and enthralled from the first sentence, as you follow Manod's journey after the arrival of the strangers. I loved how, through their arrival and interaction with them, Manod realized more about herself, her world, and what she was truly capable of. Whale Fall is an easy recommendation for readers who love historical fiction.