2020 IPPY Award Winner for Literary Fiction, 2020 NIEA Winner for General Fiction and Best Cover

In this elegant and honest debut novel by Cynthia Newberry Martin, Cass and Ethan must navigate that fine line between the things they want for themselves and the life they want together, and it appears each will have to make a choice—the person they love or the life they want.

Mary Cassatt Miller falls for famous photojournalist Ethan Graham. For months at a time, Ethan’s work takes him to Afghanistan, and Cass, who’s passionate about her job in Atlanta, wants a husband who comes home at night. Then, there’s the issue of family―he wants one; she doesn’t.

What they do want is a life together, so Ethan agrees that after three years, he will stop traveling―whether Cass agrees to children or not. But for Cass, who grew up with a mother who didn’t want her and a father who was never home, even thinking about children troubles her.

Nine weeks before their third anniversary, Cass wonders whether Ethan will try to squeeze in one final trip to Afghanistan. When he does, she’s unsure if he will ever give up the work he loves. And if he won’t, well, she will not repeat the life her parents had. As the clock counts down, it doesn’t help that Singer, the artist-bartender, is always in Atlanta, and the enthralling Setara, the subject of Ethan’s most famous photograph, is also his business partner. Then, a new danger in Afghanistan changes everything.

If you are a fan of books such as Writers & Lovers by Lily King, An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli, The Maytrees by Annie Dillard, or Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler, you’re going to love Cynthia Newberry Martin’s debut novel Tidal Flats.

Cynthia Martin

Books