THE WILD BENEATH

Dr. Kelly Anderson is an award-winning academic physician with fellowships in emergency medicine and HIV. She completed the Bookends Novel Fellowship (under Meg Wolitzer and Christina Baker Kline), the Gateless Writing Academy, and is a certified Gateless writing teacher. She led writing courses for over two thousand women inside her award-winning nonprofit, Understory, designed to bring doctors back to themselves and their instincts, and she built the clinical team at Felix Health to connect over a million Canadians with primary healthcare. Kelly is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and has taught ethics, community and belonging for over a decade. She spent her childhood swimming the beaches of British Columbia, and now lives in Ontario with her husband and two boys.

“Anderson’s lyrical and ethereal first novel connects readers to the mystery and vitality of the natural world and our relationship to it. A perfect match for readers of Charlotte McConaghy, Richard Powers, and Shelby van Pelt.”—Booklist (starred review)

“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, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“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. This novel, both intimate and epic, reveals how deeply our lives are entwined with the natural world.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“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

“In The Wild Beneath, debut author Kelly Anderson elegantly blurs the line between nature and humanity, illuminating the deep, unseen currents that connect us—to each other and to the natural world. Readers won’t so much read this novel as feel it. I’ll never look at the ocean the same way again. Absolutely dazzling.” —Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary and The Amalfi Curse

“An entrancing, magical novel that highlights the beauty of the natural world and our fragile place within it. Spellbinding!” —Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid series

“The Wild Beneath is 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 and The Poppy Fields

“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. Fans of Charlotte McConaghy and Eowyn Ivey will find a new favorite in Kelly Anderson.” —Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of The Scent Keeper

“Anderson has given us an achingly lovely book about the melodic pull of the natural world and the steep cost of pretending we don’t hear its song. The Wild Beneath is a sublime debut.” —Lily Brooks-Dalton, national bestselling author of The Light Pirate

“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. I was transported.” —Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year

“In lush, lyrical prose, Anderson weaves a spellbinding tale of singular Annie—her loves, her losses, her profound connection to the sea. 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

“The Wild Beneath is 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

“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 Finalist and author of Radiant Shimmering Light

1. Annie spends most of her childhood living aboard her parents’ sailboat, isolated from other children and the routines of everyday life. How did that upbringing shape the person she becomes? Do you think her parents made the right choice?

2. Annie is the only one who can hear Walker’s mysterious “sound.” How did you interpret this connection? What do you think the author intended it to symbolize?

3. Ruth serves as Annie’s anchor after the tsunami, offering stability during an unimaginable loss. How did her relationship with Annie shape the person Annie becomes?

4. Ruth seems to recognize something unusual about Walker from the beginning and often tries to keep him and Annie apart. Why do you think she does this? Was she trying to protect Annie from Walker, from the sea, or from a fate she already understood?

5. As Annie’s father’s story unfolds, it becomes clear that his relationship with Mara closely mirrors Annie’s relationship with Walker. What similarities stood out to you? Do you think history was destined to repeat itself, or did Annie ultimately choose a different path?

6. Walker and Mara seem to exist somewhere between the human world and the natural world. What do you think they represent? Who—or what—do you think they really are?

7. Walker and Evan each represent a very different future for Annie. What do you think each relationship symbolizes? Were you rooting for one over the other?

8. The novel explores what it means to belong—to a place, to a family, and to another person. Which character do you think struggles most with finding where they belong, and why?

9. Annie’s search for Walker years after his disappearance puts her relationship with Evan at risk. How did you interpret her decision to leave in search of answers? Was she searching for Walker, closure, or a missing part of herself?

10. Annie’s family is deeply connected to the sea, while Evan’s family has long been tied to the forest through logging, conservation, and the land itself. How do these opposing connections to nature shape their identities? Do you think Annie and Evan can truly build a life together, or are they ultimately drawn to different worlds?