Grab the Lapels

Here Beside The Rising Tide by Emily Jane

Recently, I was having coffee with a new friend when she insisted that I read a book she had recently finished. She said, “I need you to tell me what to think!” What a request, eh? I asked for the title of the book, and she couldn’t remember, though after a long Google, she still couldn’t find the title. It was “something with sea monsters and Pokémon.” Okie doke. Later, my friend and I met up again, and she thrust the book into my hands — she’d got it at a book exchange and it was on her shelves at home. I looked at the cover, which immediately gave me contemporary romance vibes for that somewhat cartoony style that is so popular right now.

Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane is like a romance novel without the romance. I’ve never read a book that uses the words shimmy and twirl so often. And yet, it was rather unforgettable. We start when our main character, Jenni, was a little girl. Her single mother works constantly, leaving Jenni alone most days in their small, beach-adjacent house. She goes to the beach by herself (in the days before constant parental supervision) and meets a new friend, a little boy named Timmy, who has both a huge curiosity drive and wealthy parents. After they discover a strange creature in the sand and place it back into the water, Timmy goes missing.

Jump ahead, and Jenn is a bestselling author tired of the character she created that launched a popular action-romance series. Her husband is leaving her after discovering the manosphere, and because he was the stay-at-home parent, he wants the kids. Like a totally normal person, Jenn packs up her kids and flees to her childhood home on the beach, leaving her spouse in the dark, to stay for the entire summer. Although most stories favor mothers, author Emily Jane makes it clear Jenn doesn’t know how to parent. She just wants to win her kids over by letting them do whatever they want and feeding them candy and mac and cheese all day: “She would never win Mother of the Year. But she would win points. The kids would use her benevolent sugar stands against Chuck. Mom lets us have cookies with lunch they would say, and her heart would be full.”

Unbelievably, Timmy reappears on the beach exactly as he was when Jenn was a child. He remembers Jenn but now feels she’s a boring adult when she won’t listen to his tale of traveling around with the sea creature they rescued and how he was brought back to save the day — because something bad is coming. Basically, Here Beside the Rising Tide progresses from little sea creatures turning into bigger sea creatures and having to do battle with a giant, black squid-like kraken thing. You’d never expect that, would you? Jenni’s kids and Timmy give all the creatures names like they’re Pokémon characters and insist on calling the president to summon the army.

What’s wild about Jane’s novel is that is so unexpected. We have a terrible mother who has kidnapped her own children. We have a caring father who has turned, out of desperation, to a toxic male author who writes about how to be a real man. There are unearthly, Lovecraftian sea creatures doing battle. Also, we get chapter excerpts from Jenni’s bestselling series, showing us how brave and sexy the protagonist is as a direct foil to Jenn. I found the novel easy to remember, even when I had to set it down midway and read a different title for an upcoming book club. Jane’s plot is highly imaginative, even if it is told through rom-com-like sentences. Everything is a bit twee, like my comment about the words “twirl” and “shimmy” cropping up so often you’d think humans were incapable of walking left foot-right foot at a normal gait. But in the end, I told my friend that I thought it was a crazy ride, that the mom was a terrible parent, that it didn’t make sense for a stay-at-home dad to turn to a toxic male author, and that at one point the sea creatures had a real Power Rangers moment, which I could appreciate as a kid from the 90s.

20 comments

    • When I looked it up, I found I’d read another book by Emily Jane, and this is what I said about it: “Emily Jane’s On Earth As It Is On Television begins well, with alien spaceships influencing people and cats to embark on adventures, but oddly enough, it doesn’t really go anywhere. When a cat hears a voice in his head, we’re told that “he bounded down the sidewalk to where the sidewalk ended. He watched the thunderous cars and trucks that roared across the road. His brain, though incapable of comprehending its uniqueness, was singular among the many species of Earth. His thoughts floated along an inimitable pattern of waves. His wakeful perceptions interfaced with an alpha-wave dreamland.” Lots of things happen, but they get lost in the verbiage. The best part is how a wife who turns out to be an alien can eat enormous quantities of food and never gain weight; reading about it feels like wish fulfillment.”

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      • I thought for sure that was you who reviewed her previous book, and I’m glad you confirmed it for me! Yes! I remember this, and I agree with you about the language in that example. It’s too much, and Here Beside the Rising Tide isn’t like that at all.

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    • Honestly, I think because I’m a constant reader and book blogger, former lit professor and someone with three degrees in fiction writing, plus I lead really good book clubs, I think folks want to hear what I have to say. I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but that has been a thing for a while. Actually, my mom now gets the same thing at her local book clubs (we live in different places). When I engage with books, I want people to take bits of themselves and compare it against the novel, to ask how it applies to their lives, and since my mom and I have a book club together, I think she’s been doing more of that at her book clubs, too.

      Can’t wait for your review!

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  4. Ha, I am in the middle of reading a book that a new friend loves that really isn’t for me! (It’s Throne of Glass, which I am coming to believe is actually the worst book. Not just the worst one I’ve read, but the worst one overall. But how do I tell my new friend that??) This book does indeed sound like a wild ride.

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    • Oh lordy. I get this sometimes. I think you either just politely put the book back on your friend’s desk or whatever when they’re not there (if that’s possible) with a sticky note that says “thanks!” or you just give it back and say, “I’m so glad you enjoyed this book and wanted to share that part of your life with me.” I remember comment on student papers that I really liked the title when the composition was awful because, you know, small things.

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  5. I like the idea of genres being mixed up like that – and so do lots of people if “USA Today Best Selling Author” is to be believed (is it?); not to mention mum being the bad guy. It’s a shame the writing’s not better, but then perhaps the writing suits the target market.

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    • I think the writing fits the target audience pretty well. It’s written in the vibe of a spunky romance novel heroine, and I didn’t hate it. I like how imaginative the kids are but questioned whether kids are THAT creative. Granted, I don’t have any of my own, but I remember being a little freak with my thoughts, so who knows about kids today. I supposed I assumed they lack imagination today because smart devices do it for them. I hope I’m wrong.

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  7. Huh, what a fascinating book. I agree that the premise of a stay-at-home dad turning to toxic male influencers seems far fetched (if anything, staying at home would have made him turn to feminism!) but I like the weird vibe of this story. I also love stuff that’s a little ‘twee’ sometimes

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    • I can’t remember if you’re an audiobook person, and I’m leading toward no; however, if you are, this would be a great audiobook for any commute. Or if you’re a runner or something like that. I know you’re a peloton lady, LOL. The dad plays such a minor role that I could overlook it anyway, but it seemed like the author was trying to make him sound like a dipshit even though he was the more stable parent from a different perspective.

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