Afloat - Hardcover

"Funny, ominous, suspenseful. As with the best current dystopian writing (Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go come to mind), McCartney's Afloat stays rooted in the real, the daily details, the human side of political and environmental inevitability. Often insightful, never sentimental, Afloat is a smart, contemporary debut well worth reading." --Sally Elizabeth Cooper, Globe and Mail

"Fresh, energetic and genuine ... reminiscent of The Time Traveller's Wife." --The List, UK

"Powerfully evoked...the humour and riotous drunkenness throughout this novel [has] a disquieting, sombre edge." --Helen Gordon, Times Literary Supplement

"Hilarious, fascinating, horrifying." --Kirstie McLuckie, Scotsman, UK

"This month's essential book." --CityLife Magazine, UK

"Afloat contains some of the most evocative writing I've read all year." --Craig Taylor, Quill & Quire

"Evokes the glad and desperate chaos of Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness." --Ariel Gordon, Winnipeg Free Press

"More than one reviewer has compared this book to Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife, and readers who loved that novel are sure to love this one too. However, Afloat is the better book. Welcome to the next generation of writers. This is the finest example of their craft I've read yet." --Peterborough Examiner

"Tactile, sumptuous, and wholly absorbing, McCartney's devotion to storytelling is more than apparent, making this a compelling read from a first-time novelist." --Canary Wharf Magazine, UK

"This is a deeply moving and evocative debut from a young Canadian novelist with an extremely rosy future.Afloat is a daring yet tenderly-wrought depiction of the confusion of young love." --Doug Johnstone, Big Issue, UK

"An intriguing tale of summer love told in teasing retrospect . . . lovingly evoked, the more so for McCartney's sly humour and the mood-perfect banter." --Laurence Wareing, Herald, UK

"Lively, sexy, often hilarious and ultimately touching--here's a debut that manages to be both idyllic and dystopian, a book peopled with layered, likeable characters whose dialogue is fresh, whose insights are sharp, and whose story stays with you." --Steven Heighton, author of Afterlands

"An appealing debut . . . successfully portraying the eroticism of young love." --Scottish Review of Books, UK

"Afloat has a clean, distinct quality to the prose (a precision, if you will) that brings to mind another Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood." --Peter Wild, Book Munch, UK

"Moving, elegantly written, and confident." --Jeff Mahoney, The Hamilton Spectator

"A story of vivid memories, few regrets and eventual reconciliation." --Pam Barrett, Edmonton Journal