Ultramarine

In Navarro’s gripping English-language debut, a French freighter captain’s journey takes a perilous turn when a mysterious stranger joins her crew of 20 men. The unnamed captain, 38, maintains a professional but distant relationship with her crew on their voyage to the West Indies. Breaking from her rigorous routine, she grants the men’s request to halt the ship for a short swim. The break begins pleasantly, but the men soon become disoriented in the water, not seeing the boat or their fellow swimmers, and instead hallucinating a young man’s unfamiliar face. Eventually, they manage to return to the vessel, and after resuming their journey, they discover there are now 21 men aboard. Confusion turns to fear as the ship is engulfed in a thick mist and inexplicably begins to slow down. As the vessel slips further from the captain’s control, she fixates on identifying the stowaway and loses interest in reaching their destination, dismissing the crew’s mounting concerns that her erratic behavior will lead to their ruin. In spellbinding prose that enhances the novel’s nightmarish atmosphere, Navarro explores the captain’s profound connection with her ship (evoking the myth of Iphigenia, the captain reflects, “What will we sacrifice, boat? What will we throw into the sea to make you come back to our side?”) and the complex gender dynamics aboard. This captivating saga lures and disturbs in equal measure. (Mar.)