A lovely and atmospheric coming-of-age set on an isolated Welsh island in the late 1930s, during the lead-up to World War II. The island has only a handful of families, and they live and die by the fishing season -- a life that seems foreign, both charming and exotic to the pair of researchers that arrive from mainland England to study and document the island and its people. It's quiet, lyrical, and full of symbolism, exploring a shrinking community and their culture, and the questions of purpose and duty and remembrance that they find themselves mired in. Beautiful writing and draws some incisive contrasts between the islanders and the researchers, painting a larger picture of different values systems and ways of life. Enjoyed it very much!

Whale Fall is a slim, but powerful novel.

Manod is one of 57 residents on a remote Welsh island. Because of the challenges of island living, many inhabitants are drawn to a supposed better life on the mainland. When two English ethnographers come to document island life, Manod jumps at the chance to use her English skills as a translator, secretly hoping the visitors will take her with them when they leave. Meanwhile, a whale corpse washes ashore. Residents count it as an omen but can't agree whether it's good or bad.

This is a very atmospheric piece—readers can feel the isolation and hardship of living so far from major civilization. Over the course of the book, it becomes clearer that the English aren't sincere in their intentions. Instead of documenting life on the island as it is, they are set on creating their own narrative. When Manod sees a photograph captioned, "An island family enjoys a picnic," she remarks that “no one in the photo was related. And [they] never ate outside.” Later when a fisherman is asked to pose for a photo, he's asked to move deeper into the ocean and mimic a style of fishing unlike how they islanders actually fish. Not to mention the fact that they don't learn to swim and the arrangement so far into the water is dangerous. Predictably, the English don't take Manod with her when they leave, choosing instead to gaslight her into thinking nothing of the sort was suggested.

We can learn from the bad behavior of the English ethnographers not to treat other cultures as if they owe us something. We can learn from Manod that we don't need someone else to save us—we can save ourselves.

This book may not be for everyone, but I adored it. A stong sense of place and subtle but compelling characters left quite an impression on me.

unfortunately this was so boring and long. it was the longest 224 pages ever. struggling to read through a page of this was a sign, but i was being hopeful. man, i don't even know. i would say i felt edged by this book, but there would have to be some sort of build-up to a climax for that and there was no build-up, no rising action. but thank you netgalley for this!

The more I think about this book, the more I like it. It is deceptively straightforwardly written, a style that fits the barren and somewhat brutal life on this small Welsh island just as WWII is getting started. It's told from the perspective of a late teenage girl, one of few left on the island, who is bound to the place by the need to take care of her pre-teenage sister. Their life is one of sparsity that is mimicked by the language the author uses to convey the lives of the islanders. Once a pair of Oxford-based ethnographers arrive, the narrative is interrupted frequently by poems, sea-shanties, folk tales, etc. that the ethnographers record. The overall effect is one of a sort of surreal atmosphere of push and pull between reality and superstition.

This book is very much focused on character rather than plot, with a strong thematic underlayment. It's been described as a coming of age story, and it is that, but it is so much more. It deals with issues of fascism, isolation, subjugation, exploitation, and who gets to write history and how accurate that history is. Read for a plot line, the book feels scant and unsuccessful. Given thought, it is very powerful.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor. This book absolutely deserves to be adapted into a BBC miniseries! I was captivated by the way the story unfolded, with each element seamlessly flowing together. My only critique would be that the story felt a bit too short—I could have easily spent more time on the island. As a debut author, Elizabeth O'Connor truly delivered an impressive and memorable experience.

In the fall of 1938, on a remote island off the coast of Wales, two sets of strangers arrive in quick succession: a dead whale that washes ashore and a pair of English ethnographers looking to study the island’s culture. For Manod, an eighteen-year-old native of the island, the arrivals signify potential change in her life. While the whale festers on the beach and the islanders figure out what to do with it, the ethnographers offer Manod a job working as a translator. Manod is quickly drawn in by the mystique of their foreignness and the possibility of returning with them to the mainland until she realizes that they might not be acting with the purest of intentions. I enjoyed this slim novel, its premise, and the thematic tensions between stasis and change. It reminded me of my favorite book of 2022, The Colony by Audrey Magee, which had a similar premise: an English linguist travels to a remote island off the coast of Ireland determined to preserve a culture he perceives as dying without reckoning with the desires of the island’s inhabitants. While Whale Fall was well-written and I don’t have any major critique (other than the fact that the whale was kind of unnecessary), I think that The Colony explores the same themes better, and would recommend that book over this one.

When I think about Whale Fall, I get more of a feeling than anything else. It's a misty, moody, melancholy feeling, a feeling that wraps around the island where the novel is set and covers over the main character as she struggles to find her way. I wouldn't say it's all vibes and no plot but it's a very good mix of the two, it's unsettling but hopeful and captures time and place beautifully.

Coming of age novels are always a hit or miss for me. Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor was a HIT. I loved the depth, insightfulness, and bravery of Manod was inspiring.

Sometimes a book is for you and sometimes it is NOT. This was was NOT for me. While written wonderfully, this was just not something that could captivate me and keep me invested.

Thanks so much for the early copy, I'm so sorry it wasnt for me!

Set in a remote Welsh island in the late 1930s, O’Connor’s Whale Fall is full of gorgeous prose and vivid scenery. The story is slow at times, but so beautifully written it feels lovely to just soak in all the imagery. I picked this up a few times over the months and couldn’t get into it, but once I got 10%in, I was hooked and read the rest in a couple of days. Definitely would recommend this one to anyone looking for a cozy, historical read but not if you are looking for something gripping or upbeat.

Elizabeth O’Connor’s Whale Fall is a beautifully atmospheric debut that immerses readers in the isolated, windswept world of a remote Welsh island. With prose that shimmers as much as it stings, O’Connor deftly weaves themes of loss, longing, and the tension between community and individuality.

Set in 1938, the story centers on Manod, a young woman burdened by familial duty and the weight of an insular life. The unexpected arrival of a dead whale—a powerful symbol of both doom and possibility—coincides with the intrusion of two English ethnographers, whose presence disrupts the fragile balance of the island. As Manod grapples with a budding desire to explore life beyond the island, the novel explores the dissonance between self-discovery and communal expectations.

What Worked Well:
O’Connor’s prose is luminous, bringing the island’s stark beauty and hardships vividly to life. The novel’s exploration of identity, sensuality, and cultural preservation is thought-provoking, with an undercurrent of tension that sustains interest. For readers drawn to literary fiction steeped in rich imagery and introspection, Whale Fall is a rewarding experience.

Room for Improvement:
Despite its evocative prose, the pacing is slow, and the narrative feels meandering at times. Manod’s internal struggles and the ethnographers’ presence are compelling, but the stakes don’t always feel immediate. This might make the novel less engaging for readers seeking a stronger plot or emotional payoff.

Final Thoughts:
Whale Fall is a quiet, contemplative novel that will resonate with readers who appreciate character-driven stories steeped in folklore and isolation. While its deliberate pace and understated drama may not suit every taste (I rated it 3 stars), the book’s piercing emotional accuracy and evocative sense of place make it a memorable exploration of ambition, belonging, and the cost of stepping outside one’s world. Perfect for fans of literary fiction and book clubs interested in dissecting themes of cultural identity and personal transformation.

Whale Fall was very much a mood read for me. My favorite aspect of this book is the evocative writing style. The author includes a lot of descriptive colors, textures, sounds, and temperatures. It was a feast for the senses. However, there were parts of the book that could have been improved. The combination of the slow paced plot with a low page count (224 pages) caused some issues. There was not enough development of the characters and story. I enjoyed reading about Manod, her family, and the community that lived on the island, but it didn't feel like enough. I wanted to know more about them. There were also some sections of folklore in the book that created some disruptions in the flow of the story.

This beautiful, gentle novel is set on an island off the coast of whales just before WWII. With lease than 50 inhabitants, Manod dreams of leaving the island until a whale is washed up on shore and word of the island spreads in the news. Ethnographers arrive and Manod translates Welsh into English for them as they gather stories, songs and folklore.

Falling just around 200 pages, this was a quick but deceptively complex read. It was a beautiful take on grief and heartbreak and I am very much looking forward to more by this debut author.

Though fictional, the Welsh island where Manod lives in 1938 is based on any number of small island communities in the British Isles, many of which were evacuated by government decree due to declining populations and harsh living conditions. Manod's life on the island is disrupted by a whale that washes up on shore, and the arrival of two English scholars who've come to research their way of life. Because she is quite intelligent and her English is very good, Manod becomes a sort of secretary and transcriber for the researchers, and while she is initially as charmed with them as they seem to be with the island, she comes to realize they are not to be her ticket out of her current situation.

O'Conner's writing is lyrical and atmospheric, painting vivid pictures of the island's harsh beauty and Manod's internal struggles.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor publishing for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful yet bleak look at a small community struggling to survive through the eyes of a young woman named Manod. Set on a fictional Welsh island, this story starts with a whale washing onto the beach of this island, which the people see as a bad omen. Soon after, two English ethnographers come to the island to document the dying community.

Though this book was bleak and sad, the prose was beautiful, told through folk tales and Manod's quietly strong voice. I really enjoyed the physical representation of the community's death shown in the rotting carcass of the whale. This constant reminder of real and societal decay was very interesting.

I also enjoyed that it brought up some of the ethical concerns behind ethnography, and if there is a way to study a people without it being exploitative. Overall a short but powerful read.

Publication date: 7 May 2024

I really enjoyed this book. The coastal setting reminded me of The Banshees of Inisherin and Ammonite. The cover was striking and ultimately is why I picked this book up. I kept reading for Manod's story, the tension between her and the English couple, and the descriptions of the spare island. The whale is really in the background of the story and I forgot about it at times.

I started this and enjoyed it, but unfortunately I ended up hospitalized and the NetGalley app ran out of time. I added it to my list to get a copy!

A mesmerizing journey into the depths of the human spirit, artfully blending nature's raw beauty with profound emotional insight. O'Connor's lyrical prose and vivid imagery create an unforgettable experience that lingers long after the final page. This book is a stunning testament to resilience and the interconnectedness of life.