Book description
Winner of the 2024 Albertine Translation Prize
The metaphysically disorienting tale of a captain who loses control of her thinking—and her crew—aboard a cargo ship in the Atlantic.
A female captain in a male-dominated field, the unnamed narrator of Ultramarine has secured her success through strict adherence to protocol; she…
Why read it?
1 author picked Ultramarine as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Mariette Navarro’s 2025 work is part of an interesting recent sub-genre of austere European novellas set in an unspecified, unnerving near-future.
Coping with her father’s dementia, a female ship’s captain allows her male crew an unusual naked night swim. Afterwards, she realizes there’s a new, unregistered man aboard.
Ultramarine is absorbing, entranced, and psychologically rich; refreshing among current fiction, its ambiguity requires as much dream analysis as literary interpretation. It’s been superbly translated by Eve Hill-Agnus.
From Laurence's list on novellas that transcend time.
If you love Ultramarine...
The High House
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Want books like Ultramarine?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 94 books like Ultramarine.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,210
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Ultramarine, you might also like...
Aggressor
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
