You ever pick up a book and just feel the dampness of the ocean air coming off the pages? Erika Swyler’s debut, The Book of Speculation, does exactly that. It's weird. It’s moody. It’s got this strange, circular logic that makes you wonder if your own family tree has a few rotting branches you haven't noticed yet.
Simon Watson is a librarian. He lives in a house that is literally falling into the ocean on the edge of Long Island. That's a bit on the nose, right? A man whose life is crumbling lives in a house that’s crumbling. But Swyler makes it work because Simon is so painfully relatable in his loneliness. He gets this old, water-damaged book from an antiquarian bookseller—a journal from the late 1700s—and realizes his family has a terrifying habit of drowning. Specifically, the women. Specifically, on July 24th.
What The Book of Speculation is actually trying to tell us
Most people read this and think it’s just a gothic fantasy. They’re wrong. At its heart, it’s a manual on how grief mutates over generations. We see Simon’s mother, a circus mermaid who could hold her breath for an impossible amount of time, but she couldn't outrun the water in the end.
The circus element isn't just window dressing
The historical chapters follow a traveling circus. It’s gritty. It’s not the glitzy Greatest Showman version of the 1800s. It’s dirt, desperation, and a "Wild Boy" named Amos who can’t speak. Swyler uses these flashbacks to show how the "curse" began. Or was it a curse? Or just a series of really bad choices passed down like a heavy heirloom? Honestly, the way she ties the arrival of the book to the looming deadline of July 24th creates a ticking clock that feels more like a thriller than a literary novel.
You’ve got Enola, Simon’s sister, who is a wanderer. She works for a carnival. She’s flighty. She’s the one Simon is terrified for. The tension isn't just about magic; it’s about the frustration of trying to save someone who doesn't necessarily want to be saved. We've all been there. Trying to hold onto a person who is determined to slip through your fingers.
📖 Related: Gwendoline Butler Dead in a Row: Why This 1957 Mystery Still Packs a Punch
Why the ending of The Book of Speculation is so divisive
Let's talk about that ending. No spoilers, but some people hate it. They want a neat bow. They want a scientific explanation for why these women keep walking into the Atlantic. But that’s not how generational trauma works. It’s messy.
The prose itself is thick. Some sentences are short. Like a heartbeat. Others sprawl out across the page like seaweed. Swyler is also an illustrator, which explains why the book feels so visual. She actually drew the illustrations for the book herself. That adds a layer of authenticity you don't usually get. You aren't just reading Simon’s research; you’re seeing the sketches he’s looking at. It makes the world feel tactile. Real.
The librarian's struggle with the digital age
One of the best subplots is Simon’s job. Or his lack of one. He’s a librarian in an age where people think libraries are obsolete. His boss is a nightmare. This part of the book feels like a love letter to physical objects in a digital world. The smell of old paper. The weight of a binding. In The Book of Speculation, the physical book is a character itself. It’s decaying. It’s dangerous. It’s a record of things that should have been forgotten.
- The book was a New York Times Editor’s Choice.
- It leans heavily into "magical realism," a genre often misunderstood as "fantasy-lite."
- The setting of Naponoch and the Horseshoe Bay area feels like a character.
Breaking down the "Curse" vs. Coincidence
Is it a curse? If your grandmother, mother, and sister all have the same obsession with the water, is that magic or is it just the family business? Swyler plays with this ambiguity perfectly. Simon is a man of facts. He works with data. Yet, he’s forced to confront the irrational.
👉 See also: Why ASAP Rocky F kin Problems Still Runs the Club Over a Decade Later
The secondary characters, like the neighbor Alice, provide a grounded perspective that keeps the story from floating away into pure myth. Alice is the reality check. She’s the reminder that while Simon is obsessing over a 200-year-old book, his actual life is literally sliding into the sea. It’s a wake-up call for anyone who spends too much time looking backward instead of dealing with the present.
Honestly, the pace slows down in the middle. Swyler takes her time. If you’re looking for a fast-paced beach read, this isn't it. This is a "sit by the fireplace while it rains" kind of book. It’s dense. It’s moody. It’s sort of depressing if you think about it too long. But it’s beautiful.
How to read The Book of Speculation for maximum impact
If you’re going to pick this up, don't rush it. Pay attention to the dates. The transition between the 1700s and the present day is handled through the perspective of the book Simon is reading. It’s a meta-narrative.
- Check the illustrations. Don't skip them. They contain clues to the family lineage that the text doesn't always spell out.
- Look at the weather. Swyler uses the environment to mirror the internal state of the characters. When the storm hits, it’s not just a plot device.
- Research the "Mermaid" history. Circus performers who specialized in breath-holding were real, and their lives were often as tragic as the ones depicted here.
The book reminds us that we are all made of the stories our parents told us—and the ones they hid. It’s about the weight of names. The weight of silence. Simon’s journey isn't just about stopping a death; it’s about understanding why his family lived the way they did.
✨ Don't miss: Ashley My 600 Pound Life Now: What Really Happened to the Show’s Most Memorable Ashleys
To get the most out of this story, you have to be willing to sit with the uncomfortable bits. The parts where Simon is unlikeable. The parts where the circus feels cruel. Life is cruel. The ocean doesn't care if you're a good person or not. It just pulls.
Next Steps for Readers:
- Compare the motifs: If you enjoyed the magical realism here, look into The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern or The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. They share that "heavy atmosphere" vibe.
- Investigate your own history: The book's primary takeaway is that unexamined history repeats itself. Use a tool like Ancestry or family records to look for patterns in your own lineage—not for curses, obviously, but for health patterns or recurring professions.
- Support your local library: Much like Simon’s struggle, real-world libraries need patronage to survive. Visit your local branch and ask about their rare book or local history archives.
- Read Swyler’s follow-up: If her style clicked with you, her second novel Light from Other Stars tackles similar themes of family and loss but through the lens of science fiction and space.
The real "Speculation" isn't about the magic in the book. It’s about speculating on how much of our lives are truly our own and how much is just a script written by people who died before we were born.