Top

We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.

The Seawomen

On sale

14th June 2022

Price: £16.99

Select a format

Selected: Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781529369564

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

‘A gripping tale of love and bravery’ SOPHIE WARD, author or The Schoolhouse
‘A powerful, enchanting novel’ ANNA BAILEY, author of Tall Bones
‘Mesmerising and moving’ SUSANNAH WISE, author of The Fragile Earth

They say wickedness lies in the sea.

To touch the water – to even look at it – will stir up the sin that naturally lives in the heart of each woman. The only path to salvation is obedience, marriage and motherhood. Those women on the isle of Eden who fail in their duty will be cast back into the dark water, without mercy.

But the sea calls to Esta. It always has.

When danger forces Esta beyond the shallows, she uncovers a different world. One of freedom and power. It sets her on a course to uncover a secret sunk beneath the waves and the truth that will tear Eden apart.

‘If you’re looking for your next Handmaid’s Tale-esque fix, this is it’ Belfast Telegraph
‘Unsettling and lushly written’ KIRSTY LOGAN, author of Now She is Witch

The Seawomen is the highly acclaimed debut novel about the power of women, for fans of Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Hannah Richell and Naomi Alderman.

What's Inside

Read More Read Less

Reviews

Cathy Rentzenbrink
A beautiful and profoundly satisfying novel. I was enthralled from the opening scenes and didn't want it to end. I loved this book. Vivid, magical, entrancing.
Sophie Ward, author of Booker longlisted <i>Love and Thought Experiments</i>
A gripping tale of love and bravery; The Seawomen immerses you in its watery world.
Zoe Gilbert, author of <i>Folk</i>
This book sucked me under and held me in its gorgeous, terrifying embrace. It's a rare treat to read a story so gripping told in such beautiful prose. Dive in and don't look back.
Natasha Brown, author of <i>Assembly</i>
A tale as slippery as a fish... I was never quite sure of what things were. Feminist allegory, modern folklore, or romance? Maybe The Seawomen is all of those things, and more. In any case, I was hooked.
Caroline Lea, author of <i>The Glass Woman</i>
Richly atmospheric, powerful and provocative. A raw and beautiful coming of age story.
Natasha Ngan, bestselling author of the <i>Girls of Paper and Fire</i> series
Fiercely feminist and utterly unique. Timms is a bold new talent. This is a story about oppression, the bonds that tie us - and the lies that break us. Suspenseful and intensely engaging, from Timms' lyrical writing to the genre-bending, unpredictable plot, you won't be able to put this one down.
Jen Campbell, author of The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night
Hold your breath and hang on to hope. Perfect for fans of The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan and The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Seawomen is a captivating and sometimes terrifying debut that will sweep you out to sea.
Susannah Wise, author of This Fragile Earth
I read this beautiful novel in a fever dream, its sweeping prose carrying me away like a boat out at sea. Chloe Timms has written an extraordinary tale of one woman's desire for freedom, for love. Mesmerising and moving, I couldn't put it down. I have no doubt it will feature on everyone's lists
Louise Morrish, author of Operation Moonlight
Beautifully written, unsettling as a storm over the ocean, Timms' novel reads like the darkest fable, pulling you in like the tide.
Laura Price, author of Single Bald Female
An astonishing literary achievement, The Seawomen punches you in the gut, pulls you under the water and keeps you gasping for air until the very end. This is not just a story about love and survival but also about women's empowerment and the idea that no one's life is worth more than another. Chloe Timms is an extraordinary new talent.
Kirsty Logan, author of The Gloaming
An unsettling and lushly-written reimagining of witch trials, exploring fertility, control and how what we believe can save us - or destroy us. The Handmaid's Tale meets The Shape of Water.
Kate Sawyer, author of Costa shortlisted The Stranding
An allegorical love story with echoes of fairytales and told with a visceral brutality. At its heart it is about whether to believe what we are told over what we feel to be true
Becca Day, author of The Girl Beyond the Gate
It isn't often that a novel grips me, unsettles me and totally blows me away with its unpredictability, but Timms manages it. A provocative, imaginative and beautifully written work of art
Louise Carey, author of <i>Inscape</i>
The Seawomen is an evocative, atmospheric read. I was drawn into the insular community of Eden's Isle, heavy with secrets and lies. The final chapters in particular were incredibly compelling - I didn't come up for air until I'd finished the whole thing
Katie Hale, author of <i>My Name is Monster</i>
Such a compelling read, filled with myth & desire & the sea
Lizzie Pook, author of <i>Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter</i>
The Seawomen is simply astonishing - a salt-smattered, genre-bending masterpiece written in the most exquisite, evocative prose. This is perfect for fans of Midsommar, The Handmaid's Tale and The Shape of Water. Dizzyingly, intoxicatingly beautiful
Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of <i>Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?</i>
The Seawomen literally took my breath away. Masterfully crafted and exquisite writing. This novel is what I call a masterpiece
Anna Bailey, author of <i>Tall Bones</i>
A powerful, enchanting novel, with prose so vivid you can taste the salt in the air on your tongue
The Style Life
Chloe Timms is creating quite a stir in the literary world with her debut novel The Seawomen ... a hugely atmospheric book of power and control with the brilliant character of Esta at its centre. For fans of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power.
Cambridge Edition
With splashes of The Handmaid's Tale and the isolated, quasi-religious communities in the films Midsommar and The Village, this is a book you can truly submerge yourself in; so take a deep breath and dive beneath the waves'
SFX
Timms unmasks organised religion as a gleaming façade for misogynistic cults, and explores how easily whispered rumours can spiral into mass hysteria. Bonus points for her shockingly nasty villain, Father Jessop
Belfast Telegraph
If you're looking for your next Handmaid's Tale-esque fix, this is it
Sunday Business Post
Beautifully written ... a great concept, brilliantly executed, and it is essential reading for dystopian fiction fans
Olivia Fitzsimons author of <i>The Quiet Whispers Never Stop</i>
I adored this novel. I was completely hooked by Esta, Cal and the island. Transported by Chloe's incredible ability to write landscape and the body so powerfully. The prose is beautiful, each delicious sentence captures the reader and the story builds with sublime pacing and a taut plot that keeps you turning the page. If you like Sophie Mackintosh or Megan Hunter get this book. It's like Breaking the Waves meets The Essex Serpent. Chloe Timms is such a singular talent and I'll be reading everything she writes
Kirsty Logan
An unsettling and lushly-written reimagining of witch trials, exploring fertility, control and how what we believe can save us - or destroy us. The Handmaid's Tale meets The Shape of Water
Sophie Ward
A gripping tale of love and bravery; The Seawomen immerses you in its watery world.
Zoe Gilbert
This book sucked me under and held me in its gorgeous, terrifying embrace. It's a rare treat to read a story so gripping told in such beautiful prose. Dive in and don't look back.
Caroline Lea
Richly atmospheric, powerful and provocative. A raw and beautiful coming of age story.
Susannah Wise
I read this beautiful novel in a fever dream, its sweeping prose carrying me away like a boat out at sea. Chloe Timms has written an extraordinary tale of one woman's desire for freedom, for love. Mesmerising and moving, I couldn't put it down.
Anna Bailey
A powerful, enchanting novel, with prose so vivid you can taste the salt in the air on your tongue
SFX
Timms unmasks organised religion as a gleaming façade for misogynistic cults, and explores how easily whispered rumours can spiral into mass hysteria. Bonus points for her shockingly nasty villain, Father Jessop
Belfast Telegraph
If you're looking for your next Handmaid's Tale-esque fix, this is it
Sunday Business Post
Beautifully written ... a great concept, brilliantly executed, and it is essential reading for dystopian fiction fans
The Swansea Bay
Timms' writing is at once lyrical and measured, bold and tender. The lens she offers us to look through is an unusual and passionate love story, which renders The Seawomen as gripping as it is haunting.