Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor 5/5✨

I think I’m in my literary fiction era. This book was a delight from start to finish, and I was hooked from the start. Set before World War II (in 1938) on an island off the coast of Wales after a whale washes ashore. Whale Fall follows Manod over the span of three months.

What I loved about Whale Fall was how honest and critical the discourse was about the role of English imperialism and colonialism when two English ethnographers come to “document” the island.
I also loved the character growth of Manod and her relationship with her sister. I especially loved the writing and found it to be so beautiful!

I found this to remind me of Clear by Carys Davies!

#whalefallbook #whalefall #booksbooksbooks #wales #literaryfiction

I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t know what to expect and it didn’t resolve as I wanted but I really enjoyed it! An 18 year old on a remote welsh island begins work with two English researchers writing a book. As she sees the island through their eyes she learns more about herself and what she wants out of life.

Whale Fall is so atmospheric. I loved reading about the weather, plants, and wildlife on the island. The descriptions were lush and captivating.

I also think the book did a good job at discussing how communities like this were taken advantage of and misrepresented as the world raced to modernity.

I do wish her family relationships and relationships with other villagers were explored more thoroughly. They felt a bit distant and I would have loved more insight.

Overall, however, I would recommend this book, especially if you’re looking to disappear into some beautiful nature writing.

What a weird little book! I loved this, I loved Manod’s perspective on her isolated island home and the customs and habits of her community, and I loved the way that contrasted with the perspective of the outsiders. There was some juicy thought provoking stuff here, about isolation, alienation, representation, documentation, histroy being written by those in power… Not to mention the haunting form of the decomposing whale carcass. The complex ecosystem that develops around the body of a dead whale, sunk deep into the sea where conditions are harsh and abundance is rare… thats good stuff!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!!

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor is a heartbreaking literary historical novel. Set in 1938, on a fictional island off the coast of Wales, the story is narrated by an 18-year-old island woman named Manod.

Manod is intelligent and caring. She’s attuned to the rhythms of island life, but yearns to expand her horizons. Many of the younger islanders have already moved to the mainland in search of better opportunities, and Manod hopes to do so also, but it’s unclear whether their lives improve or if what they sacrifice in leaving is too great a price to pay.

The story begins with two arrivals. The first is a dead whale that washes ashore. As it slowly decomposes, it becomes part of the island, incorporated into children’s games and adult rituals. The second is an invasion by two English ethnographers, who are eager to record the culture of the islanders before it disappears. They enlist Manod’s help as an interpreter/transcriber. She begins to see them as the means for her escape. Yet her admiration for them slides into disillusionment as she discovers how they manipulate their observations to tell the story they want to tell.

As expected, the ethnographers are more interested in creating a compelling story for the book they are writing than in presenting a realistic picture of the people and their customs. In the act of “preserving” the culture, they are instrumental in distorting it.

The language is spare. The pace of the novel is slow, but there is a tension in it that held my interest – a sense of impending doom. The whale is potentially an evil omen. The ethnographers are unprincipled. The culture is slowly dying. And WWII is approaching. This is not exactly an enjoyable novel, but it will make you think.

I can't believe this is the author's debut. I loved the simple, stated prose and the bleak, atmospheric setting. I do wish it had a little more to it in terms of plot, but this was a fascinating character study nonetheless.

This is Elizabeth O'Connor's first novel - hard to believe given the multiple levels of meaning in this slim volume. The location in time and space enables both a distant mirror and a very personal view of how cultures interact and rub off on one another. The less you know going in, the better. Highly recommended.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Pantheon for providing me early access to this title — it’s out NOW!

‘Whale Fall’ was the atmospheric, stark and poignantly written book I’ve been looking for. I was in love with the juxtaposition of the historical (1938), cold and remote setting of a Welsh Island as described and experienced by Manod, a girl who has spent her life there. A giant whale washes up on the shore and for Manod it becomes both a bad omen and symbolic of something bigger, beyond the island. Students come to study the life and culture on the island and Manod becomes a kind of guide as they try to understand, but in that comes an exposure to something both exciting and exploitative.

There is something so universally recognizable in isolated, coming of age stories like this, but It goes so much deeper and for that it is sharp and upsetting. What can the ambition of an outsider do to a vulnerable community, and what does it mean to confront change even if you’re not completely ready?

It was beautiful, absolutely enamoring. It reminded me of ‘The Colony’ by Audrey Magee (published in 2022), ‘Ghost Wall’ by Sarah Moss (published in 2018) and ‘Clear’ by Carys Davies (also published in 2024). If you’re looking for a brilliant character study and a captivating, chilly setting, look no further — a quiet but compelling read for sure!

Strong writing - exquisitely atmospheric - but, for me, slow and depleting (and I normally love a slow read, but somehow this just didn't land for me - I wonder if it's because the overarching tone was so bleak). I was surprised by my lack of curiosity about / investment in the characters, particularly Manod; the ending should have struck me more than it did, but I felt removed from the story. I understand the hype, and in its best moments it reminded me of Haven by Emma Donoghue, but it just wasn't for me (or at least, wasn't for me at this particular moment). Thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon for an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

A whale washes up on the beach of an isolated Welsh island. Shortly afterwards, two academics from Oxford follow and the world changes a bit for a local girl who dreams of bigger things. Set during WWII and a very quick read

3.5⭐️

I so wanted to love this, and was excited to dive in. But, while it provided a nice atmospheric buildup, it didn’t feel like it ever truly got off the ground. It was a great start, but it could have used more story and more characters I could connect with.

Thank you Elizabeth O'Connor, Pantheon, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a story with a lot of interesting themes and important things to say, but with an execution that fell flat for me. I think a good portion of my disappointment comes from this just not being my cup of tea. Unfortunately, I thought this would be much more of an active story but the quite understated writing and extremely morose mood didn’t work for me.

***I received an ARC from Pantheon and Netgalley for free and am leaving an honest review***

It’s been forever since I’ve read an entire book in one day, but this one was so impossible to put down that I stayed up way past my bedtime. It is a great, quick, atmospheric read. Manod was a fantastic character to root for. While the short length definitely packed a punch, I would have loved to read even more and delve deeper into Manod and her family.

The story takes place in a remote welsh island , it’s a slow, short story , well written and entertaining, however I kind of did find it predictable

Ethnographers from the mainland descend on a small Welsh island to gather material for a book. They engage as a helper a teenaged girl who is motherless and the only custodian of her younger sister. As they win the girl’s trust with promises of seeing faraway places and one day getting her a college education, and flatter her with their admiration of the importance of her lifestyle, even unto a romance with one of them, she returns these high opinions and trusts them with the island’s precious tales and embroidery art she creates. The finale comes nearly as a body blow to the reader, when she discovers their grandiose plans for her are but a fantasy, fueled by her own hopes and the writers’ greed. Very engaging and emotionally wrenching story.

I am reading books for a one book one town event that will take place next year. While I personally loved this book, I find the readers in the town to be very limited in their willingness to consider other cultures and perspectives. I will recommend this book to my book groups and friends who read. I will also buy a copy for the university library where I work. I felt this book took me to this welsh island landscape in a very specific atmospheric way. The story was well told and sad.

This was an interesting and short read about a girl who lives on an incredibly tiny island off the British coast. When a group of students arrive on the island to document the locals' way of life, our main character gets sucked into their orbit, showing off and helping them with their work.

This was a lyrical and poignant story of a young woman living on an isolated Welsh island. When two ethnographers visit, she starts to rethink her life, seeing it through the lens of these worldly scholars. My favorite part about this book was the evocative descriptions of the island and it’s inhabitants.

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor has gorgeous, lyrical prose. It is an atmospheric and contemplative meditation on perception. Manod is a young woman curious about the world around her. She lives on a remote Welsh island (based on an amalgamation of islands around the British Isles) taking care of her younger sister after her mother's illness and subsequent disappearance. She is aware of how 'mainlanders' view her and her island. One day, a whale becomes stranded in the shallows of the island seemingly heralding change. Then, two English ethnographers arrive from a university to study the locals and Manod becomes their assistant as she speaks English. Through Manod, they learn about the island and its ways, though their 'findings' are not always coherent with reality. Manod in turn begins to dream of a different future for herself.

Fantastic novel. I loved it.

Many thanks to Pantheon and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Although not much technically *happens* in this book, it still succeeded in invoking a sense of foreboding and dread in me. The hopelessness of an unfulfilled life, feeling trapped & like nobody around you cares to help. Beautifully done.