What We Can Know

£10.99

2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found. 2119: The lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. Tom Metcalfe, an academic at the University of the South Downs, part of Britain’s remaining island archipelagos, pores over the archives of that distant era, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the lost poem, a story is revealed of entangled loves and a crime that destroy his assumptions about people he thought he knew intimately well.

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Scheduled for publication on 18th June, 2026
The book will be available on or after this date. If you would like to preorder a copy, we will notify you when it is ready to collect.

SKU: 9781529959208 Category: Tag: Publisher/imprint : Vintage
Page count : 320
Published on 18th June, 2026

Description

In a world submerged by rising seas, can the secrets of the past be discovered? The breathtaking Sunday Times bestseller.

‘Full of wisdom and heart. I loved it’ Elif Shafak
‘A gripping page-turner’ Observer
‘It gave me so much pleasure’ New York Times

2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message.

2119: With the UK’s lowlands submerged by rising seas, those who survive are haunted by all that has been lost.

Tom Metcalfe, a university scholar, pores over the archives of the early twenty-first century. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the lost poem, he reveals a story of entangled love and a brutal crime that challenges everything he thought he knew about the past.

What We Can Know may well have created a new genre’ Sunday Times

‘Brilliantly plotted? In What We Can Know, the past is an irresistible riddle’ Washington Post

‘Propulsive?entertaining and enjoyable’ Financial Times

‘A dazzling novel’ Independent

‘Haunting, playful and ultimately hopeful? A wonderful book’ Kaliane Bradley

‘A poignant love letter to the vanishing past’ Guardian

*A BOOK OF THE YEAR for the Sunday Times, Guardian, New York Times, New Statesman, Spectator, New Yorker, i Paper and Barack Obama*

Additional information

Weight 0.254 kg
Dimensions 19.7 × 12.9 × 2.2 cm
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