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Waist Deep

by Linea Maja Ernst

Old ideals, new desires at a Danish lakehouse

Regular price $18.34 USD
Regular price $26.21 USD Sale price $18.34 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Praise from Susannah Dickey, author of Tennis Lessons

    Susannah Dickey praises the book as “Clever, wry, and incredibly sexy.”

AlbakiReads Editorial

Old ideals, new desires at a Danish lakehouse

Over seven summer days, five former university friends reunite at a lakehouse in Denmark to swim, cook, and catch up. Their holiday brings old ways of living back into question: Sylvia wonders what became of the radical ideals she shared with the group, while news of her former crush Esben’s impending wedding sharpens the tensions around desire and commitment. The gathering’s sunlit routines—swims, dinners, and flirtation—provide the setting for a story about how friendships and romantic boundaries shift as people grow older. The novel frames that change through a question about whether adulthood requires giving up earlier dreams.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in friendship groups revisiting their university years.
  • Readers drawn to fiction about desire, romantic boundaries, and changing ideals.
  • Readers looking for a summer-set story with a Danish lakehouse setting.

Themes

Friendship and growing upDesire and commitmentChanging ideals and dreamsSummer gatherings

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"Clever, wry, and incredibly sexy." --Susannah Dickey, author of Tennis Lessons The luscious summer novel and international sensation. A story about friends, lovers, and friends' lovers.Five friends from university; seven summer days in a lakehouse in Denmark. A chance to swim, catch up, and mess around like old times. But the idyll is fragile. Lost without the uninhibited magic of their youth, Sylvia is left wondering what happened to the radical ways of living they embraced at university. Tensions rise under moonlit swims and wine-drenched dinners, and Sylvia is stunned to learn her old crush Esben will be getting married at the end of the week--a crush her monogamous girlfriend would definitely not approve. While the group sunbathe, cook, and flirt their way to midsummer night, new desires prove not everyone has left their arcadian fantasies behind. An instant bestseller in Scandinavia and now translated into ten languages, Waist Deep is a modern Midsummer Night's Dream that offers a provocative flourish to the perennial question: does growing up have to mean giving up on your dreams?
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