Tidal Flats

Tidal Flats wins the Gold Medal in Literary Fiction at the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

 

This is the story of a marriage.

Mary Cassatt Miller falls for famous photojournalist Ethan Graham, who is equally in love with her. But for months at a time, Ethan’s work takes him to the dangerous streets of Afghanistan, and Cass wants a husband who comes home at night. Then there’s the issue of family—he wants one; she doesn’t. What Cass and Ethan do want is a life together, so Ethan agrees that after three years, he will stop traveling—whether Cass agrees to children or not.

Tidal Flats opens nine weeks before their third anniversary—the day Ethan will be home for good—as Cass anticipates all that the year will bring. In addition to Ethan at home, Cass will become the director of Atlanta’s Howell House, the Westside home for three older women, known to the staff as the Fates.

As the clock counts down, Cass wonders if Ethan will ever give up the work he loves, and 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 overseas.

Then, a new danger in Afghanistan changes everything.

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

–Mainstream/Literary Fiction

“A Woolfian talent for taking the full measure of small moments.”

Rebecca Makkai, author of THE GREAT BELIEVERS

“TIDAL FLATS is written out of the rough wisdom that knows that love is a peculiar, dynamic force, and all we can do against it is to be alert and open and awake.”

Paul Lisicky, author of LATER and THE NARROW DOOR

“A gorgeously observed account of one woman’s life, lived in our era of global reach, of international obligations…”

Robin Black, author of LIFE DRAWING

“A universe of betrayal, compassion, and regret in which two people’s love for each other is surpassed only by their loyalty to their convictions.”

Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN

“The novel swirls with light and love.”

Joshua Mohr, author of SIRENS and
DAMASCUS

“Cynthia Newberry Martin shows us to ourselves: our penchant for choosing lives that will crack us open… This book is a stunning, heart-expanding debut.”

Pam Houston, author of DEEP CREEK: FINDING HOPE IN THE HIGH COUNTRY

Reviews

“Cynthia Newberry Martin is a tremendous writer, with a Woolfian talent for taking the full measure of small moments. Her work is both subtle and revelatory, and I’ve been waiting a long time for this book.” Rebecca Makkai, author of THE GREAT BELIEVERS

“Cynthia Newberry Martin’s TIDAL FLATS is written out of the rough wisdom that knows that love is a peculiar, dynamic force, and all we can do against it is to be alert and open and awake. This is a story of making and unmaking and making again, with no neat resolutions or pat answers. It’s a beautiful book.” Paul Lisicky, author of LATER and THE NARROW DOOR 

“Exquisite! A gorgeously observed account of one woman’s life, lived in our era of global reach, of international obligations, of domestic worries and domestic triumphs too. Cynthia Newberry Martin has found the perfect story through which to share her rare wisdom. Brava!” —Robin Black, author of LIFE DRAWING

“For once, a novel of big ideas that is also filled with bold and uncommon events. In TIDAL FLATS, Cynthia Newberry Martin, a storyteller at the top of her game, creates a universe of betrayal, compassion, and regret in which two people’s love for each other is surpassed only by their loyalty to their convictions.” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN

“I admire Martin’s capacity to render her characters with the dignity of complexity. And I double-admire that she takes that same care with her settings, turning Place into a player that has its own “human” heart. The novel swirls with light and love.” Joshua Mohr, author of SIRENS and DAMASCUS

“With deep insight and unending sensitivity, Cynthia Newberry Martin shows us to ourselves: our penchant for choosing lives that will crack us open, our resilience when our deepest fears come true. In scenes both vivid and emotionally complex, Tidal Flats excavates the interior of a long-term marriage, how it demands the impossible, offers the unimaginable. This book is a stunning, heart-expanding debut.” Pam Houston, author of DEEP CREEK: FINDING HOPE IN THE HIGH COUNTRY

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