The Farther Shore
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Pub Date 20 Oct 2026 | Archive Date 15 Feb 2027
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Description
"FASCINATING...an absorbing work of historical fiction and an impressive and welcome debut." —KIRKUS REVIEWS
"ASTONISHING...as intellectually daring as it is lushly immersive." —New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, JAMIE FORD
Inspired by the true story of Eugène Marais, one of history's most extraordinary and forgotten minds.
Southern Africa, turn of the twentieth century. Marais is a brilliant naturalist and iconoclastic journalist whose evolving theories about memory, addiction, and the hive mind are decades ahead of their time. But when tragedy strikes, he disappears into a remote African forest—leaving behind his newborn child and his conscience, and embarking on research that will haunt both their lives.
Thirty years later, his son Charles—now a professor of ancient Buddhist history at Harvard—discovers that the university's most powerful faculty are mining his father's research to bolster theories of racial hierarchy. Accompanied by a mysterious Jewish graduate student whose fate has become entangled with his own, Charles must journey to South Africa to confront his father, heal his fractured past, and stop a sinister plot taking root at the world's most prestigious institution.
Set across two interlocking timelines—from the British concentration camps of the Boer War to the rising shadow of the Third Reich—THE FARTHER SHORE is a heart-wrenching, exhilarating novel about memory, love, and identity, and about the vast distances we'll travel to find our way home.
THE FARTHER SHORE explores questions that outlast a single life: what a son owes a parent who left him behind, and what a father owes the child he abandoned; how science can be used to heal or destroy; and how faith, grief, and forgiveness can cross generations. It’s a novel about inheritance in every sense—of genius and of guilt, and of the violence that colonialism and fascism leave in their wake—and it offers book clubs and reading groups plenty of rich and evocative material to discuss together.
For readers of Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See, Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone, Daniel Mason's North Woods, Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being.
A Note From the Publisher
A note from the author: "Thank you for reading. Independent reviews make an enormous difference for a debut, so if the novel moves you, I'd be grateful if you'd share your honest thoughts on Goodreads, and on Amazon once the book is on sale October 20."
For librarians and booksellers: we'd be pleased to have you consider THE FARTHER SHORE for your collection or your shelves, and we warmly welcome LibraryReads nominations. Author event details (a national tour runs October–November 2026) are available via sethfleisher.com.
A note on content: an epic novel unfolding across two timelines, from the Boer War in turn-of-the-century southern Africa to Harvard in the 1930s. Spanning two continents and three decades, it follows how the pseudoscience of race hardens into something more monstrous, and traces nuanced histories of identity and memory, and one man's search for home. Immersive literary historical fiction for readers of Anthony Doerr, Anthony Marra, Michael Ondaatje, and Daniel Mason, with the Buddhist and contemplative resonance of Ruth Ozeki.
For author events, newsletter signup, book club appearances, and inquiries: sethfleisher.com
Advance Praise
"An astonishing reimagining of the life of Eugene Marais, The Farther Shore is as intellectually daring as it is lushly immersive. Seth Fleisher renders history with a decadent richness—each page steeped in atmosphere, obsession, and unease—while excavating the dangerous fictions of race and the seductive machinery of rising fascism. What emerges is not just a portrait of a man, but a mirror held up to our own moment: a world still grappling with identity as both inheritance and invention." — New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, JAMIE FORD
“In this achingly relevant debut novel, Seth Fleisher achieves great magic, embodying continents and centuries. Recalling aspects of The English Patient and A Gentleman in Moscow, this rich exploration introduces a cast of fascinating, complex mortals whose voices are accurate not just to history but to the longings of their flawed hearts." —Author of Dogs of Cuba and Crawl Space, EDIE MEIDAV
"A compelling novel inspired by the pioneering naturalist Eugène Marais and his son, Charles, who was abandoned in the name of science...This is an absorbing work of historical fiction and an impressive and welcome debut." —KIRKUS REVIEWS
"In a rich and visceral style akin to Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone, this novel asks profound questions about memory and instinct in a cross-continental tale of father and son that is deeply moving and unforgettable." —Author of Lilli de Jong, JANET BENTON
Marketing Plan
Marketing & Publicity — The Farther Shore by Seth Fleisher
Green City Books · dist. Ingram / Publishers Group West · audiobook from Blackstone Publishing, narrated by Dennis Kleinman · on sale October 20, 2026 · pre-order live
Advance praise from Kirkus Reviews, Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet), Janet Benton (Lilli de Jong), and Edie Meidav (Dogs of Cuba)
For readers of Anthony Doerr, Anthony Marra, Amor Towles, Daniel Mason, Abraham Verghese, Michael Ondaatje, and Ruth Ozeki
Anchor events (national tour, Oct–Nov 2026)
Berkeley — Mrs. Dalloway's in conversation with Mindela Ruby (Oct 21)
Davis/Sacramento — The Avid Reader (Davis) in conversation with Judith Starkston (Oct 24)
New York — Barnes & Noble, Upper West Side in conversation with Zeeva Bukai (Nov 9)
Philadelphia/Swarthmore — Celia Bookshop in conversation with Janet Benton (Nov 12)
San Francisco — Book Passage, Ferry Building, in conversation with Anna Nordberg (Nov 14)
Additional events in development in Boston and Portland
Publicity campaign (agency-led): Kirkus review secured; review outreach to trade and literary journals (Library Journal, Booklist, Shelf Awareness); podcast, radio, and NPR-affiliate pitching; author interviews; features pitched to literary, Buddhist, and Jewish outlets
Reader & reviewer campaign: targeted outreach to literary and historical-fiction reviewers, bookstagrammers, and public librarians via NetGalley and direct galleys; galleys available for Indie Next and LibraryReads consideration
Direct trade outreach: national independent-bookstore postcard-and-email campaign to fiction buyers; direct library outreach to priority systems
Community & institutional outreach: Buddhist centers, Jewish organizations (incl. Jewish Book Council; Jewish Book Month in November), South African diaspora networks, and alumni/institutional channels (Harvard, Swarthmore, Community of Writers)
Author platform: Berkeley-based; represented by Jane von Mehren, Aevitas Creative Management;
Pre-orders, author event dates, newsletter signup, reading guide, and more: https://sethfleisher.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sethfleisher
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781963101249 |
| PRICE | $19.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 360 |
Available on NetGalley
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Buy on Bookshop.org Buy on WaterstonesAverage rating from 4 members
Featured Reviews
Saundra W, Reviewer
This is a slow but brilliant exploration of the time prior to WWII. The alternate timeline predates WWI but is not free from war as parts of South Africa fight for their independence from England. Thought provoking from start to finish, questions of equality and the price of freedom as well as the loyalty of family strike deep. Wonderful book where the lands of South Africa are practically a character of their own.
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