Fiction – Literary – Saga – Family Life – Multiples Timelines – Historical – Asian American & Pacific Islander

RELEASE DATE: 6/3/2025 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER’S WAREHOUSE AND ARRIVE 1-2 DAYS AFTER THE RELEASE DATE)

“A gripping journey through time, Mrjoian brings readers deep into the heart of the Armenian Genocide and its ripples across generations. . . . Waterline is a must-readintense, moving, and unforgettable.Morgan Talty, national bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez and Fire Exit

In this deeply moving debut, a close-knit Armenian American family grapples with the aftermath of losing one of their own.

Outside Detroit on the island of Gross Ile, the Kurkjians receive news that Mari, the eldest of their youngest generation, has swum into the depths of Lake Michigan with no intent of returning to shorethe consequences of which drag out a deeply rooted pain passed down from generations before.

More than a century earlier, Gregor, the great-grandfather and patriarch of the Kurkjian family, survived the Armenian Genocide after fighting for his freedom atop Musa Dagh. Decades later and miles away, Gregors epic mythos is inherited by his family as they navigate living in its shadow. As the Kurkjians now struggle with their new, devastating loss, secrets and shortcomings rise to the surface, forcing each relative to decide where their own story fits in the narrative of their familys fraught history.

For fans of Tommy Oranges There, There, Thao Thais Banyan Moon, and Jeffrey Eugenides epic Middlesex, Waterline explores the complex beauty of diaspora, the weight of inherited trauma, and the echoes of the Genocide on contemporary Armenian life. This is a searing portrait of a family afloat in grief and the perseverance needed to rise above.

“A moving portrait of grief and the shadows of silence.Vanessa Chan, bestselling author of The Storm We Made

AUTHOR BIO:

Aram Mrjoianis the editor-in-chief ofThe Rumpus, managing editor ofMichigan Quarterly Review,and a 2022 Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellow. Aram has previously worked as an editor at theChicago Review of Books,theSoutheast Review, andTriQuarterly. He is also the editor of the anthologyWe Are All Armenian: Voices from the Diaspora. His writing has appeared in theGuardian, Runner’s World, Literary Hub, Catapult, West Branch, Electric Literature, Gulf Coast, Boulevard, Joyland, Longreads, and many other publications. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Northwestern University and a PhD in creative writing from Florida State University. He lives in Michigan.

“Waterlineis smart and beautiful and breathtaking in its Rashomon-like chronicle of the ripple effect of a young woman’s suicide. The depth of Aram Mrjoian’s exploration of an extended family in crisis is stunning, and his insights into grief and loss are profound. I was awed by this first novel.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Sandcastle Girls

“Waterlineis one of those novels that steeps you so thoroughly in the history, grief, love, and tangles of one family that you become a member of it. This is a fierce, tender debut about the way tragedies–both personal and national–echo through the generations.” —Rebecca Makkai,New York Timesbestselling author ofI Have Some Questions for You