Awake in the Floating City

Susanna Kwan’s Awake in the Floating City is a quietly powerful novel that explores grief, resilience, and human connection in the face of environmental collapse. Set in a hauntingly reimagined San Francisco – now transformed by endless rainfall and rising tides – the book follows Bo, a 40-year-old former artist grappling with loss and dislocation in a city that is literally and emotionally sinking.

Bo’s life has been marked by profound change: friends and family have either perished or fled, the familiar cityscape has eroded into watery ruins, and the isolation of survival weighs heavily. As she prepares to evacuate aboard a ship bound for safer lands, a mysterious note appears under her door: I need help. Three days per week, afternoons. Can pay in cash. It’s a quiet plea that halts Bo’s escape, leading her to her neighbour Mia, a 130-year-old woman who has been left behind by her own family.

What unfolds is a beautifully written and emotionally layered portrait of caregiving and unexpected companionship. Bo and Mia’s bond begins as one of necessity, but deepens into something far richer. Kwan treats their relationship with tenderness and complexity, capturing how two women – generations apart – come to rely on each other not just for survival, but for a sense of purpose and continuity.

Kwan deftly explores the emotional weight of caregiving, the endurance it requires, and the quiet dignity it can offer. The novel weaves in themes of cultural heritage, as Mia’s stories offer glimpses into histories often forgotten in the urgency of crisis.

At its heart, this is a novel about the power of human connection even in the bleakest of circumstances, which makes Awake in the Floating City a tender and timely story that lingers long after the last page.