All The Water in the World: The literary climate change thriller that made me question everything

As I read All the Water in the World, my television showed footage of extreme flooding in Kentucky, while outside my own window in central Illinois, the world was frozen solid.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall is one of those rare novels that doesn’t read like a debut. The writing is gorgeous—so much so that it made me question my own ability as a writer. Can I ever be that good? And yet, for all its literary beauty, the novel never loses itself in its own prose. It’s not one of those books that exists just to showcase an author’s talent; it has a story to tell, one that is both gripping and deeply human.

Set in a flooded future, this novel follows Nonie, a girl with an innate connection to water, as she and her family survive on the roof of New York’s Museum of Natural History. Their mission is clear: preserve knowledge and history, taking from the museum’s exhibits only when absolutely necessary. But when a superstorm forces them to flee, they embark on a perilous journey up the Hudson River, encountering communities that have adapted—or failed to adapt—in vastly different ways. Some hoard resources, some wield control over others, and some, like Nonie’s family, fight to preserve what little remains of human history.

What sets this book apart is how seamlessly it blends literary depth with a compelling plot. The pacing is just right—not too fast, not too slow. The characters are fully realized, their relationships complex and authentic. This isn’t just a survival story; it’s a meditation on what we choose to save when everything else is lost. Inspired by real-life curators who protected cultural artifacts during times of war, All the Water in the World feels both timely and timeless.

And it couldn’t have come at a more relevant moment. Climate fiction is no longer a subgenre—it’s becoming a reflection of our reality. While reading, I couldn’t ignore the fact that real-life disasters were unfolding around me. A nearby city’s primary water source is drying up. Wildfires in California are worse than ever. Scientists warn that things will only escalate. How will our lives change in the coming years? How will my children’s lives change? The novel raises haunting questions about control—over our environment, over each other, and over our own survival. Who will wield power when resources dwindle? Who will be willing to fight, and at what cost?

Ultimately, All the Water in the World offers a glimmer of hope. In a world of scarcity and upheaval, it suggests that knowledge, love, and community might be the things worth preserving most. It’s a novel that lingers, one that will make you think long after you’ve turned the last page.

Have you read All the Water in the World? What do you think about climate fiction and its growing relevance? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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Related Content

• Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth: Lyrical dispatches from the apocalypse (Eiren Caffall)
• Conversations with Eiren Caffall (Voyage Michigan Magazine)
• Wading Through Life, Loss, and Ecological Catastrophe (Chicago Review of Books)
• Confronting the climate crisis: Water as a lever for climate action (World Bank Blogs)
• Review of All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall (The Bossy Bookworm)
• Review: All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall (Mom with A Reading Problem)

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Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.