Waist Deep

(Paperback)

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A modern midsummer night's dream about friends, lovers and friends' lovers; about sex, hope and love; and about dreaming that everything could be different. 'Waist Deep might be this literary year's first full fledged miracle' Berlingske A group of friends from university; seven summer days in a cabin in rural Denmark. A chance to swim, sunbathe, flirt, read and spend time together like the old days. At least that's what Sylvia had hoped. But when Gry turns up with her kids and Esben and Karen announce their wedding, Sylvia is left wondering what happened to the radical ways of living they envisaged at university. Plus, she is nursing a decades-long crush on Esben, that her monogamous, long-term girlfriend Charlie won't approve of. Within the rest of the group, desire and anxiety swirl in equal measure. Quince finally feels at home in his body and is ready to rave, but there are children with bedtime routines. While sparks fly around the dinner table, Gry is feeling banal among her colourful, eccentric friends. Unusually, she's also brought her husband Adam, the poster child for a heterosexual masculinity Quince can't decide if he wants to tear down or tie down. As the week progresses, discussions and flirtations intensify. A modern midsummer night's dream for the new generation, Waist Deep adds a sensuous, ethereal flourish to the perennial question- what is the best way to live and love as you get older 'A perfume dream of a debut' Politiken 'Linea Maja Ernst writes about sexual desire so well that it turns her readers on' Weekendavisen

Reviews

A perfume dream of a debut about the wild force of friendship * Politiken *
Waist Deep might be this literary years first full fledged miracle * Berlingske *
Shamelessly entertaining * Kristeligt Dagblad *
A completely superb and playful contemporary novel Its pages ooze life lived, the gallery of characters is razor-sharp, the dialogue is flawless and the spry cultural references tie it all neatly together into a drama worthy of Virginia Woolf * Euroman *
Linea Maja Ernst writes about sexual desire so well that it turns her readers on... at once silly and fragile, flirtatious and sensitive * Weekendavisen *
An intense, confrontational and in every sense interesting novel about the fragility and (for some) fluidity of identity * Information *
Linea Maja Ernst writing about opulent dinner parties and the heady magnetism of midsummer forests is sensory and atmospheric * Soundvenue *

Author Bio

Linea Maja Ernst (b. 1988) is a staff writer at the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen and a frequent podcast guest, where she deals with literature, pop culture and contemporary phenomena. She's known for her witty and flamboyant style - and for talking about queer and polyamorous experience, open relationships and her desire for alternative ways of living. Waist Deep is her first novel.