I gobbled this book up! What a heart-felt book about grief and motherhood and isolation. Can't wait to read whatever Gilliss does next.

Thanks so much to the publisher for the e-galley!

A harrowing novel about a woman who would do anything for her child, Lungfish is almost unbearably bleak, something I typically enjoy...

This is why I think this novel was right author/book, wrong time.

IT's evident Tuck will do anything for her daughter, spending her days on a deserted island searching for food anywhere she can find it. Once I figured out Lungfish can years without food, the title started to come into full view. Tuck is not being nourished by her life, but she's a fighter and will do anything for her daughter.

I'm eager to try another Gilliss and hope to read it in a better headspace.

Beautifully written but so intensely bleak that I had to set it aside for now. It is unrelentingly emotional and heartbreaking.

Lungfish is a lyrical, emotional story about one woman's devotion to her daughter. When Tuck finds herself isolated on her grandmother's island, far from other people, at first she does not realize the severity of the situation. However, as her hunger grows, both literally and metaphorically, she starts noticing all of the choices and decisions that have led her to this barren existence.

Meghan Gilliss writes so beautifully about the natural world that it makes the reader feel like their feet are in the sand and the crashing waves are surrounding them. The relationship between mother and daughter is heartbreaking. This story explores addiction, isolation, survival, marriage, and so much more. It reads like poetry and delivers on the subtle themes in a way that will leave the reader pondering it long after they have finished the last page.

I am excited to read more by this author in the future.

Meghan Gillis's debut novel, Lungfish, left me reeling. Experimental in form, and told in flashbacks and fragments with vivid descriptions that verge on poems, Lungfish is disjointed and sometimes chaotic, like the tumultuous and precarious life of its protagonist, Tuck--subject to weather and the whims of others. Its language, like its landscape, is lush and vibrant with a razor-sharp edge. While it is often biting, it is a book that has a lot to say about love, from the tender to the tragic.

https://www.feministbookclub.com/book-review-lungfish-by-meghan-gilliss/

I should have known. I didn't like the cover or the title of Lungfish but it was recommended and had decent reviews.

I found Lungfish to be melancholy and perpetually caliginous. For me, it was as though Meghan Gilliss was given an assignment to write a novel that feels like fog. Everything felt drab and gray: the storyline, the characters, and the setting. How could a mother repeatedly make such terrible choices not just for herself but her young daughter. It just didn't work for me.

Almost unbearably bleak. Almost unbearably beautiful. A novel about the ravages of addiction that is told in a way that felt uniquely poetic and yet so grounded in the actual experience--a near-perfect fictional representation of the end of love and hope that comes when you realize your loved one will tell any lie, and suffer any degradation, and leave you and your child to starve, not caring, if that is what it takes to get the drugs they need. This is the story of disconnected and ravaged people doing their best, and failing, There is so much sadness and ugliness here and yet the novel still manages to exalt the English language, The novel is most remarkable for the way it can feel experimental and dream=like and yet at the same time feel so grounded in truth, as much as any memoir. The grueling trials that the narrator of the story goes through to keep her child fed—the fierceness of her will to survive, and to make sure her child survives, as well—feel magnificently true.

Very strong writing here. I suspect this book will stay in my memory for a long time. Certainly not a light story, but it is engaging. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Tuck's grandmother has died and her private island off the coast of Maine is Tuck's only hope to save her family. Her husband Paul is addicted to Kratom and has spent all their resources - so much so that there isn't even food for Tuck and their little daughter Agnes. This forces Tuck to scavenge from the sea life, to eat tiny crabs and flora (are the mushrooms safe?) until she finds old bumper sticker kits she sells in the small shore town for small amounts of cash- just enough to buy minimal food and fuel. She's stuck, stuck on the island, stuck without knowing where her father, who actually inherited it, is, stuck with Paul's cravings. This is a gorgeous and harrowing novel of a woman trying to keep it together for the sake of her child. The dory, the sea weed, the cold and wet, all of it add to the atmospherics. If I have a quibble, it's that Paul seems as much of a cipher to the reader as he clearly is to Tuck. Gilliss takes the reader back in time to understand a bit more about Tuck, whose childhood wasn't easy but nothing like what she's dealing with now. It's gorgeously written. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Terrific read- highly recommend.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅.

Tuck and her little girl Agnes are squatting in her deceased grandmother’s house on an uninhabited island off the coast of Maine, empty bellied and lost, while her husband Paul attempts to detox. But addiction is a beast, and the island of her childhood summers may not be the most practical solution to their gathering problems. Her grandmother’s bookcase holds field guides, but is there enough food to salvage upon the land to sustain her growing girl, sick husband and herself? It’s like abandoning civilization and relying on blind faith, but in what? Her marriage? Her father isn’t missing but his whereabouts are unknown, and that poses a threat to her plan, as her grandmother left the house to him. It is her family’s norm, these disappearing acts, little unsolvable mysteries. His absence is much different from her mother’s own leaving which comes to light over time.

Together she and Agnes look for supper in the woods, anything to eat with the tides, on the shore, the rocks and Agnes’s hunger is an endless source of fear and worry on top of the undeniable fact that Tuck will have to find another place for them, before the cold arrives, or they are kicked out. For now, she is trying to keep them all from starving, supporting Paul and his idea that this place could be his salvation, save their family of three from his addiction. If not for the situation it would be like a vacation, a hands on education for little Agnes, but not like this. It will be an escape from Paul’s struggles in Pittsburgh (that was his pitch to convince her to go to the island), she wants to believe in him, to keep him from drowning. It’s her favorite place in the world, but without work there is no money, without money they cannot care for their child properly. How long can she ignore this stark reality? How far will she go for love, and does anyone really have the ability to save their loved one from themselves? It’s a common story, nothing unique about addiction, hunger, pain, disappointment, but the location makes for an original read. It’s a mad choice, but Tuck has run out of options. Not bad enough for help from the government, the country full of sad stories, maybe she isn’t a fool to think this could work.

She resents and loves Paul, it’s a dizzying concept. As she grapples with painful memories, feelings of rejection come ashore, a mother who was never solidly present, a father whose invention is the only reminder that he once lived in his mother’s house, her brother Conrad off living his own life, the family always alone. Is it that Tuck doesn’t want to surrender the only true thing she has created? She refuses to be the sort of woman who can’t take care of herself, who needs to rely on a man and yet, there is a fury in her that Paul isn’t helping provide, that he has gotten them into this mess. She wants, though, to forgive him his sins, to "𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠”, of the wrongness in his brain. It’s seductive, the thought that we can heal all the broken parts of those we love most. But his leaving, his choosing to fall over caring for his wife and child, it’s not turning out right. Their lives are going to hell.

How many days will he sleep, how long before Paul wakes up? How long before she wakes up? What will it take? What will it do to their curious, sweet little girl? Shouldn’t she try to save Paul for Agnes? Paul gives her a glimmer of hope, but will it last?

The beauty of nature, all the creatures that cling to underwater rocks, much like Tuck clings to hope, is so hard to stomach. Hunger can’t be salvaged by bedtime stories, faith, though Tuck tries, to keep light in her daughter’s heart. Bad weather is coming, will her marriage survive reality? It’s about loyalty, loneliness, motherhood, addiction, family dysfunction, mental health, and love. We accept lies for a reason, but there comes a time you must deal with the consequences of blindness. There is so much pretending, denial and need, it’s a family capsized. Beautifully written, it’s about choices and how easy it is to ruin it all. I love the title, 𝐿𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ, it’s fitting. Tuck is a survivor.

Publication Date: September 13, 2022

Catapult

What a gut-wrenching, yet wonderfully written debut! First of all, the cover art and title drew me into reading the book, so great job there. Overall, I found this book to be quite depressing, but in a good way! Tuck and her daughter struggle to survive as her husband Paul battles drug addiction. Tuck's grandmother passed away, leaving a house on a small island to Tuck's father, whom she hasn't heard from in several years. Due to Paul losing his job and not being able to make ends meet, they decide to live at the house on the island until Tuck can settle the grandmother's estate and locate her father, and while they save enough money for an apartment. I found myself asking many times, why does Tuck put up with Paul? He's clearly just a selfish addict that doesn't care if his wife or daughter have food on the table. However, as I deeply examined this thought throughout the book, Tuck feels lost. She feels like she doesn't have anyone to turn to. There are so many matters affecting poor people in America, and this book does a good job of highlighting those. When Tuck inquires about food stamps, they tell her because she has a working vehicle, she doesn't qualify. I love the imagery the author created in describing the island, and what food she was taught to prepare by her grandmother, such as bladder wrack. I had to research what that was. I was worried I would not like the ending of the book, but I found it fit and I was happy with it. I liked how Tuck spoke about her time training as a veterinarian, particularly with horses. In writing these scenes, it shows how Tuck had the patience and love needed to deal with sick animals (and now an addict). I was captivated by the book, and it left me longing to see the sea. It also made me grateful to be able to afford the things I have. I am looking forward to reading more from this author, and appreciate the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

With gorgeous and lyrical prose, Lungfish recounts the story of how Tuck, her husband Paul, and toddler Agnes, are forced by dire circumstances to move to her grandmothers isolated island off the coast of Maine. Pretty much left to fend for themselves, Tuck does the best she can, foraging the island for food and selling off possessions on then mainland, all while finding g out that her husband has an addiction problem.

This summary doesn’t do justice to the quality of the writing, with its shifting timelines and off kilter events, leaving the reader to wonder whether Tuck has her own mental health issues. Tuck’s encounters on the mainland are vivid in their sense of paranoia. This is not a quick read book, and paying careful attention to the prose provides its own rewards.

A remarkable debut.

My thanks to Catapult and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of Lungfish.

A rich and haunting novel about the strong bond between mother and daughter and their struggle for survival rich. The reader will come away with deep sympathy for the protagonist but great admiration for her courageous, determination and innovation. I appreciated all the descriptions of foraging for marine life on this coastal island.

A writer to watch.

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC.
~~~Sharon
Editor. Beta Reader
The Writer's Reader
https://thewritersreader.wordpress.com

When Tuck and her husband run out of money (for reasons Tuck slowly comes to understand), they take their small daughter and temporarily move to an island home that belonged to Tuck's grandmother. Tuck tries to provide for her daughter, survive, and save enough money to move somewhere more permanent while coming to terms with (and beginning to understand the scope of) her husband's drug addiction.

This is a moving, well-written story that requires a reader's close attention.

Tuck lives in her grandmother’s abandoned house, on a deserted island off the coast of Maine. The house has been left to Tuck’s estranged father, so Tuck is essentially squatting while trying to determine whether her father is still alive, and stake her rightful claim on the property. Tuck can barely afford to feed her young daughter, and her husband is a struggling addict. Lungfish is essentially an account of Tuck’s desperate, awful situation, wrapped in lyrical prose.

I really related to the narrator, Tuck. She has a vision of how her life “should” be; husband with a steady job, her daughter never going hungry, and for all of them to have a safe place to call home. Tuck is in a constant battle with the world to get to where she wants to be, and it completely drains her.

Gilliss’s writing is wonderful; raw and truthful. It can be disjointed at times, reflecting the chaos of Tuck’s life, but it is never difficult to follow.

A small story, with a lot to say about motherhood, marriage, family, poverty, and work.

Resiliency and courage in the face of abandonment and betrayal form the heart of Meghan Gillis’ powerful debut novel, “Lungfish”. A new mom faces a dire reality when she realizes that, though she is not alone, she would probably be better off if she were.

The precarious situation takes her to an ancestral home on an island off coastal Maine. Gillis’ descriptions of this beautiful and harsh land- and seascape are breathtaking. Her ability to weave in a seemingly endless knowledge of the natural world are marvelous, enlightening, and frightening. There is a disquiet that permeates “Lungfish”. The challenges faced seem insurmountable.

Parenthood presents challenges that many are unable to meet. Events leading up to this perilous state are shown to have roots generations ago. Mothers and children are often forced to bear a burden that requires super-human physical and emotional strength. “Lungfish” is a wonderful narrative of how a strong woman and young daughter fight to survive under the most challenging conditions.

Meghan Gillis has a lot to say and a beautiful way of saying it. I will be sure to keep a close eye on her career moving forward.

Thanks to Catapult and Netgalley for the eARC.