Thrust

Laisve is a refugee in a destroyed city-island, hunted in Raids and haunted by the spirits of her drowned mother and brother. She dives into the river and finds herself travelling between times and waterways that will connect her with people from the past and future. Among them are a group of workers constructing a colossal monument to freedom for a young and bustling nation. But exactly what – and whom – will that liberty represent?

As Laisve drifts into their histories, she schools seekers in the ways of dreams, love and the ultimate aim of liberty: to free the next generation from the chains of this one.

Laisve is a refugee in a destroyed city-island, hunted in Raids and haunted by the spirits of her drowned mother and brother. She dives into the river and finds herself travelling between times and waterways that will connect her with people from the past and future. Among them are a group of workers constructing a colossal monument to freedom for a young and bustling nation. But exactly what – and whom – will that liberty represent?

As Laisve drifts into their histories, she schools seekers in the ways of dreams, love and the ultimate aim of liberty: to free the next generation from the chains of this one.

It is 2085 and Laisve is learning to use the ancient waterways to travel through water and time. Sifting through the detritus of a fallen city known as The Brook, she discovers a talisman that will connect her with people from the past two centuries, including a squad of laborers at work on a huge, national monument to liberty.

As waters rise and a police state encroaches, Laisve must find her way back to the early days of her imperfect country, to forge a bond that might save all their lives – and their shared dream of freedom.

Thrust is a dazzling novel of body, spirit and survival, and Lidia Yuknavitch’s lyrical, richly atmospheric storytelling and sharp-eyed writing is entirely transportive.