Sea Now [Paperback]

A book on what happens when the delicate balance of nature tips in favor of the sea

The catastrophe that everyone knew was coming has arrived—the dykes are breached, the tideline rises a kilometer a day, and the citizens of the Netherlands are forced into gyms and shelters in Germany and Belgium. The foxes and rabbits head inland across the dunes. The politicians make empty speeches and fret the optics. The Hague—“the center of peace and justice”—slips beneath the rising water. Online retailers do flash sale promotions on disaster kits. There is violence and looting, but some people are too tired to start over again and simply walk into the rising tide.

Not willing to simply move on, three women get into a small boat and ride back out over the flooded cities, looking for loved ones they know are likely drowned. On the way, they witness a world retaken by seabirds, whales, and kelp forests. The sea has spoken, and there’s nothing left to be done but listen.

Philosopher and cross-species linguist Eva Meijer’s new novel redefines both nature writing and climate fiction by bringing the power and resilience of the natural world to the fore.

It took a while for people to wake up to what was happening.

To be fair, that first day it wasn’t really clear that anything much was happening. Some days the sea just comes further up the beach than others, and besides the dykes were high and wide enough. The odd beachcomber had a feeling that something wasn’t quite right. But what? They’d forgotten all about it by the time they got home.

The second day, the tide line almost reached the dunes at several points along the coast. The mayors of various seaside towns called in the experts from the government water agency: men with cases who turned up in pairs, took their readingsl6