Submergence is British author J. M. Ledgard’s most famous novel, and it has a film as well. This is a novel as dark as the ocean. It will make you think a lot about where humanity is going, and of course, it won’t be at all heartwarming.
Submergence starts with a British spy named James More, a descendant of Thomas More, held hostage by jihadists in Somalia and his experiences in the meantime. Then we meet Danielle. Danielle is an underwater expert who studies the depths of the oceans. James and Danielle meet at a hotel, and they eat, chat and make love for four days. When they separate, they continue to live a little incomplete, unaware of what will happen to them.
Then we go back to James’ captivity; The words in the lines will make you angry, and the hatred that swells in you permeates your every cell. While you curse the state of the world, the ignorance of people, despair and indeed everything, in the next episode you find yourself reading about the creatures in the depths of the oceans and the exciting life there with Danielle.
Ledgard is an author who does not hesitate to overwhelm his readers with information. I am sure you will enjoy the information contained in this book. However, I do not think that the story will be very suitable for those looking for a light book. It is sure to offer a delightful reading experience for those interested. Enjoy!
Submergence
In a room with no windows on the eastern coast of Africa, an Englishman, James More, is held captive by jihadist fighters. Posing as a water engineer to spy on al-Qaeda activity in the area, he now faces extreme privation, mock executions and forced marches through arid Somali badlands. Thousands of miles away on the Greenland Sea, Danielle Flinders, a biomathematician, prepares for a dive to the ocean floor to determine the extent and forms of life in the deep.
Both are drawn back, in their thoughts, to the Christmas of the previous year, and to a French hotel on the Atlantic coast, where a chance encounter on the beach led to an intense and enduring romance, now stretching across continents. For James, a descendant of Thomas More, his mind escapes to utopias, and fragments of his life and learning before his incarceration, now haunting him. Danny is drawn back to mythical and scientific origins and to the ocean: immense and otherworldly, a comfort and a threat.
Submergence is a love story, a meditation on mortality, and a vivid portrayal of man’s place on Earth. With it J. M. Ledgard proves himself a writer of large horizons and vast ambition.
J. M. Ledgard
J.M. Ledgard is a British born novelist and an expert in advanced technology, nature, and risk in emerging markets. He works with conceptual artists.
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