Waterline - by Aram Mrjoian (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY ESQUIRE
"A gripping journey through time, Mrjoian brings readers deep into the heart of the Armenian Genocide and its ripples across generations. . . . Waterline is a must-read--intense, moving, and unforgettable."--Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit

"A moving portrait of grief and the shadows of silence."--Vanessa Chan, bestselling author of The Storm We Made

In this deeply moving debut, a close-knit Armenian American family grapples with the aftermath of losing one of their own.

Outside Detroit on the island of Gross Ile, the Kurkjians receive news that Mari, the eldest of their youngest generation, has swum into the depths of Lake Michigan with no intent of returning to shore--the consequences of which drag out a deeply rooted pain passed down from generations before.

More than a century earlier, Gregor, the great-grandfather and patriarch of the Kurkjian family, survived the Armenian Genocide after fighting for his freedom atop Musa Dagh. Decades later and miles away, Gregor's epic mythos is inherited by his family as they navigate living in its shadow. As the Kurkjians now struggle with their new, devastating loss, secrets and shortcomings rise to the surface, forcing each relative to decide where their own story fits in the narrative of their family's fraught history.

For fans of Tommy Orange's There, There, Thao Thai's Banyan Moon, and Jeffrey Eugenides' epic Middlesex, Waterline explores the complex beauty of diaspora, the weight of inherited trauma, and the echoes of the Genocide on contemporary Armenian life. This is a searing portrait of a family afloat in grief and the perseverance needed to rise above.

Review Quotes

"Mrjoian's writing about the history, culture, and perseverance of the Armenian people and this unforgettable family in the face of tragedy is nothing short of a triumph." - Chicago Review of Books

"Mrjoian's debut deftly brings an array of characters to light, illustrating the depth of heartbreak and love in a family struck by misfortune." - Washington Post

"A joyful, heartwarming drama with an intricately woven structure that is effortlessly pleasurable to read." - Esquire

"Waterline is smart and beautiful and breathtaking in its Rashomon-like chronicle of the ripple effect of a young woman's suicide. The depth of Aram Mrjoian's exploration of an extended family in crisis is stunning, and his insights into grief and loss are profound. I was awed by this first novel." - Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sandcastle Girls

"Waterline is one of those novels that steeps you so thoroughly in the history, grief, love, and tangles of one family that you become a member of it. This is a fierce, tender debut about the way tragedies--both personal and national--echo through the generations." - Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions for You

"A gripping journey through time, Mrjoian brings readers deep into the heart of the Armenian Genocide and its ripples across generations. With a voice wholly unique in its style, Mrjoian weaves a powerful tapestry of survival, identity, and resilience, all the while never abandoning what makes this book that rare great novel: feeling, the very thing that each of us knows and that binds us. It is no wonder, then, how Mrjoian is able to find the beauty in the brutality of this history, and in the unyielding spirit of family. Waterline is a must read--intense, moving, and unforgettable." - Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit

"Waterline is a moving portrait of grief and the shadows of silence. Aram Mrjoian shines a piercing and wise light on the way the members of one Armenian family care for and alienate each other with their secrets, and asks the question, how do we keep loving through unspeakable loss?" - Vanessa Chan, bestselling author of The Storm We Made, a GMA Book Club Pick

"A stunning debut and a compelling examination of the ripple effect of the past on the present. Mrjoian pulls us back and forth across decades, across lives, through layers of secrets and sorrows. I couldn't put it down." - Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of Behind You Is the Sea

"Aram Mrjoian's Waterline is a deeply moving exploration of a family in distress, keen to the many ways tragedy and hope can both ripple through generations. It's also a fine addition to the emerging canon of contemporary Michigan literature, perfect for fans of Angela Flournoy's The Turner House or Ghassan Zeineddine's Dearborn." - Matt Bell, author of Appleseed

"Nothing short of a triumph." - Chicago Review of Books

"Smart and beautiful and breathtaking in its Rashomon-like chronicle." - Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sandcastle Girls

"A fierce, tender debut about the way tragedies--both personal and national--echo through the generations." - Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions for You

"A moving portrait of grief and the shadows of silence. - Vanessa Chan, bestselling author of The Storm We Made

"Compelling. . . . I couldn't put it down." - Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of Behind You Is the Sea

"A deeply moving exploration of a family in distress." - Matt Bell, author of Appleseed