A Letter to the Luminous Deep (The Sunken Archive: Book One)

A charming fantasy set in an underwater world with magical academia & a heartwarming penpal romance, perfect for fans of Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries and The House in the Cerulean Sea.

A beautiful discovery outside the window of her underwater home prompts the reclusive E. to begin a correspondence with renowned scholar Henerey Clel. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, & then, inevitably, for each other.

Together, they uncover a mystery from the unknown depths, destined to transform the underwater world they both equally fear & love. But by no mere coincidence, a seaquake destroys E.'s home, & she & Henerey vanish.

A year later, E.'s sister Sophy, and Henerey's brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery, piecing together the letters, sketches & field notes left behind—and learn what their siblings’ disappearance might mean for life as they know it.⁣

Inspired, immersive, & full of heart, this charming epistolary tale is an adventure into the depths of a magical sea & the limits of the imagination from a marvelous debut voice.

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SYLVIE CATHRALL writes stories of hope & healing with healthy doses of wonder & whimsy. She holds a graduate degree in odd Victorian art & has handled more than a few nineteenth-century letters (with great care). Sylvie married her former pen pal & lives in the mountains, where she dresses impractically & dreams of the sea. OrbitBooks.net

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"This book is not shaped like a book, & I mean that as a compliment. It is instead an underwater treasure-chest to be slowly unpacked, full of things I adore: nosy & loving families, epistolary romance, gorgeous worldbuilding, & anxious scholars doing their best to meet the world with kindness & curiosity. Take a deep breath and dive in." — Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light