Castle of Water: A Novel

"A unique, inventive exploration of love, loss, and survival." —Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale

"A moving, harrowing, and downright literary novel." —Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A Paris Apartment

"Brilliant, clever, riveting—pick your adjective, they all apply." —Thomas Christopher Greene, bestselling author of The Headmaster's Wife

Two very different people, one very small island.

For Sophie Ducel, her honeymoon in French Polynesia was intended as a celebration of life. The proud owner of a thriving Parisian architecture firm, co-founded with her brilliant new husband, Sophie had much to look forward to—including a visit to the island home of her favorite singer, Jacques Brel.

For Barry Bleecker, the same trip was meant to mark a new beginning. Turning away from his dreary existence in Manhattan finance, Barry had set his sights on fine art, seeking creative inspiration on the other side of the world—just like his idol, Paul Gauguin.

But when their small plane is downed in the middle of the South Pacific, the sole survivors of the wreck are left with one common goal: to survive. Stranded hundreds of miles from civilization, on an island the size of a large city block, the two castaways must reconcile their differences and learn to draw on one another's strengths if they are to have any hope of making it home.

Told in mesmerizing prose, with charm and rhythm entirely its own, Dane Huckelbridge's Castle of Water is more than just a reimagining of the classic castaway story. It is a stirring reflection on love’s restorative potential, as well as a poignant reminder that home—be it a flat in Paris, a New York apartment, or a desolate atoll a world away—is where the heart is.

© 2025 Thomas Dunne Books (Ebook): 9781250098238

Release date

Ebook: March 14, 2025