‘A meditation on loss, longing and belonging.’
– Derek Thompson, author of the Thomas Bladen thrillers, Long Shadows, West Country Murder.

‘A brilliantly written, magical story about shore and sea and those who belong there.’
– Avril Joy, Costa and People’s Prize winning author of Sometimes A River Song and The Silent Women.

‘The overwhelming energy of the book is hopeful, personified in the reckless, pure soul of the child Fenn. In a book about belonging, and not belonging, and loss, she is the story’s beautiful defiant beating heart.’
– Anna Caig
Read the full review here

‘The water all around us is an emotionally moving novel that fills the mind with secrets, stories, and strange songs like a fable or fairy tale. Each of the central characters is rendered beautifully – authentic, empathic, lonely, self-contained and vulnerable. They are skillfully written, and are effortlessly true to themselves and the remarkable landscapes and seascapes they inhabit. The pace of the novel is wonderfully controlled allowing each secret, story and strange song to be revealed in its own vivid colours.’
– Jess Richards, author of Snake Ropes, Cooking with Bones, City of Circles and Birds and Ghosts.

‘Just as the sea rolls and holds its many dreams and secrets, so the story-telling anchors this book in our hearts.’
– Nick Dawson, author of North, Tracks of a Panda, Tigress

‘Once again, Lynn Michell gives us an entrancing narrative of the redemptive quality of human relationships, against a backdrop of the natural world and the urgent environmental challenges it faces.’
– Jenny Gorrod, Dundee Review of the Arts
Read the full review here: https://dura-dundee.org.uk/2023/09/26/the-water-all-around-us

‘The water all around us is sad, beautiful, sensitive, intriguing, interesting and educational. I learned about islanders, crofters, sea life and whales.
The writing is heartbreakingly sensitive, compassionate, and brilliant especially the descriptions of the sea, bird calls, the music of the wind. It’s unusual, unique and very special.
The drama in the opening pages makes you read on right through to the turbulent and exciting climax.
Narrating the story through a child’s point of view is endearing. Finn’s feelings as a newcomer to the island and not settling are very realistic. Any child who is uprooted will understand. It is brave and challenging to enter the whale’s mind and imagine his feelings but the writing appears effortless.
There is a message about the importance of relationships, not only between humans but with animals and the environment. This book tells us of our responsibility to protect our planet for future generations. It will broaden your perspective and give you a deeper understanding of the impact of climate change on our oceans.
A powerful, thought-provoking read that will stay with me for a long time.’
– Hema Macherla, author of Breeze From the River Manjeera, Blue Eyes and Letters In the Sand.

I read this beautiful story in a weekend. The prose sings, it captivated me and I couldn’t put it down. The story is full of hope and wisdom and sorrow. Fenn, a nine-year-old, is brilliantly captured in all her determination and fury and wisely sorrowful sympathy for the lost whale. But all the characters live on in my head – the painter and the man who’s planting 3,000 trees; the woman who’s come to the island to escape, and the sea and the beach and the small island itself, far to the north of these islands: they’re also characters in their own right and they’re all living on in my head.
the water all around us is a novel to remember, to cherish and to think about long after the last page has been turned. It’s haunting, just the way the lost whale’s song and Fenn’s own song for him are haunting. I loved it and the echoes it’s left me with. I think you’ll love it too.

I absolutely loved your novel. It made me at once ashamed (the environmental impact) and proud (the rescue of the beached whale) to be human. More than that, it captured the seduction of the ocean.
– Mary Donaldson-Evans