<b>For readers of <i>The Night Circus</i> and <i>Station Eleven</i>, a lyrical and absorbing debut set in a world covered by water</b><br><br>As a Gracekeeper, Callanish administers shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean. Alone on her island, she has exiled herself to a life of tending watery graves as penance for a long-ago mistake that still haunts her. Meanwhile, North works as a circus performer with the Excalibur, a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance.<br><br>In a world divided between those inhabiting the mainland (&quot;landlockers&quot;) and those who float on the sea (&quot;damplings&quot;), loneliness has become a way of life for North and Callanish, until a sudden storm offshore brings change to both their lives--offering them a new understanding of the world they live in and the consequences of the past, while restoring hope in an unexpected future.<br><br>Inspired in part by Scottish myths and fairytales, <i>The Gracekeepers</i> tells a modern story of an irreparably changed world: one that harbors the same isolation and sadness, but also joys and marvels of our own age.