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The Wild Beneath
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The Wild Beneath

By: Kelly Anderson
Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
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About this listen

 ‘Anderson’s book is ethereal, languid, crafted of language that rushes and recedes like a tide, buoying a story that reminds us sometimes the impossible is possible’ Jodi Picoult, Number One New York Times bestselling author

‘An entrancing, magical novel that highlights the beauty of the natural world and our fragile place within it. Spellbinding!’ Nita Prose, Number one New York Times bestselling author

‘Part love story, part ode to nature, with a mystical, musical, mysterious quality that carries readers along like a gentle wave’ Nikki Erlick, New York Times bestselling author of The Measure

‘Elegantly blurs the line between nature and humanity, illuminating the deep, unseen currents that connect us – to each other and to the natural world. I’ll never look at the ocean the same way again. Absolutely dazzling’ Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary

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The pull of the land or the call of the sea…

Annie MacLeod always knew she was different, growing up on a sailboat, navigating by stars and swimming with sea creatures, alongside her best friend, Evan. But when a tsunami hits, Annie is stranded on land; her entire world, and her eccentric identity, torn apart and upended.

In the wreckage, she rescues a wordless man named Walker, who emits a hum only she can hear. Their connection is instant. Walker’s touch gives Annie visions of the ocean’s hidden world, a life she’s never known but feels inexplicably drawn to. Yet even as she is pulled toward him, Evan – the steadfast love who has always been there – remains on dry land, offering stability and security. Annie is torn between Evan’s grounding presence and Walker’s magnetic secrets. But then, Walker vanishes, along with the answers Annie needs about who she really is.

Six years later, Annie has left the sea and buried the past – until Walker returns, pulling her back toward the ocean and the life she abandoned. The truth has roots more ancient than she ever could have known, and Annie must confront a choice that will test her heart and determine her future.

A fierce and entrancing debut novel of one woman caught between two worlds that won’t let her go. Pre-order now!

* * * * *

‘An incandescent debut. Kelly Anderson pares the world down to its essentials and reminds us of the beauty and mystery of being alive … I did not want to come up for air’ Emma Knight, New York Times bestselling author of The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

‘A song of a book, haunting and beautiful and strange, rich and lingering. It drew me in like the pull of the sea’ Emma Hooper, internationally bestselling author of Etta and Otto and Russell and James

‘An achingly lovely book about the melodic pull of the natural world and the steep cost of pretending we don’t hear its song … A sublime debut’ Lily Brooks-Dalton, bestselling author of The Light Pirate

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Readers are swept away by The Wild Beneath :

'Beautiful. Breathtaking. Indescribable. Unlike anything I’ve ever read before, in the best way possible' FIVE STAR Reader Review

'Completely pulled me under from the very first page … moody, raw, and beautifully written … Fans of Wild Dark Shore will be absolutely obsessed' FIVE STAR Reader Review

'Ethereal, a little haunting, mysterious and so unique' FIVE STAR Reader Review

©2026 Kelly Anderson Coming of Age Contemporary Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Sea Adventures

Critic Reviews

Praise for The Wild Beneath:

‘A haunting, heart-stopping debut. The Wild Beneath is both a love story and a myth, a suspenseful tale steeped in the rhythms of the ocean and the mysteries of human connection’ Christina Baker Kline, Number one New York Times bestselling author

‘This is the book I hope for every time I open a new cover. Immersive, lyrical, deeply and magically real, The Wild Beneath reminds us how thin and beautiful the line is between the natural and human worlds’ Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of The Scent Keeper

‘Drop everything and read The Wild Beneath, Kelly Anderson’s astonishing debut. Her luminous prose reveals the world that exists beneath our own, from the depths of the ocean to the wild terrain of the human heart’ Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year

‘Richly imagined and unlike anything you’ve read, The Wild Beneath is at once a beautifully rendered tribute to the natural world, a layered love story, and a deft reminder of the elemental bonds that tie us to each other and to the wild at the fringes of our urban lives’ Cathy Marie Buchanan, New York Times bestselling author

‘Kelly Anderson’s writing is sensual, poetic, and alive. The Wild Beneath is a modern mythic romance, an elemental love triangle, and an ode to earth and water. I read this book with whole-hearted, full-bodied pleasure’ Sarah Selecky, Giller Prize finalist and author of Radiant Shimmering Light

Five Star Reader Reviews:

'A gorgeous love story that will stay with me forever… [an] extraordinary book'

'Evocative, haunting, lush, lyrical. The Wild Beneath is a triumph of a book, reminding us of our connection to the natural world and all the magic and mystery it contains'
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.