Small Boat

During a crossing from France to Britain in November 2021, an inflatable boat full of migrants capsized in the English Channel, and 27 people died in the worst single loss of life the Channel has seen. French authorities, though called repeatedly, wrongly told the passengers they were in British waters, and rescuers arrived nearly three hours later. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Vincent Delecroix's novel imagines a first-person account by the French navy officer who took those calls. Accused of failing in her duty, she tries to justify herself and refuses to carry more blame than others, or than the crises behind such disasters.

Dua Lipa called it a masterful short novel and said its first line gains weight as Delecroix weaves together a story both shocking and familiar.