Waist Deep

‘Waist Deep might be this literary year’s first full fledged miracle’ Berlingske

Five friends from university; seven summer days in a cabin in rural Denmark. A chance to swim, sunbathe, flirt, read and mess around like in the old days.

At least that’s what Sylvia had hoped. But when her friends arrive with real jobs, kids and partners, Sylvia is left wondering what happened to the radical ways of living they embraced at university. Worse, Esben and Karen announce their wedding, striking a blow to Sylvia’s simmering, decades-long crush on Esben – a crush that her monogamous girlfriend Charlie would definitely not approve of.

Within the rest of the group, desire and anxiety swirl in equal measure. Quince finally feels at home in his body and is ready to rave, but Gry’s kids have bedtime routines that get in the way. And Gry has also brought her husband Adam, the poster child for a heterosexual masculinity Quince can’t decide if he wants to tear down or tie down.

An instant bestseller in Scandinavia and now translated into ten languages, Waist Deep is a modern midsummer night’s dream adding a sensuous, provocative flourish to the perennial question: does growing up have to mean giving up on your dreams?

‘A perfume dream of a debut’ Politiken

‘Linea Maja Ernst writes about sexual desire so well that it turns her readers on’ Weekendavisen