Coming Up for Air

'An extraordinary, three-century braid of air and water: the way we float, the way we drown, the way we surface again against the odds.' FRANCIS SPUFFORD

'Vivid, evocative, moving. I loved it' CLAIRE FULLER

‘Spellbinding and beautifully written . . . an extraordinary novel. I can’t wait to read what Leipciger writes next.’ CARYS BRAY

Three extraordinary lives intertwine across oceans and time.

On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.

Taking inspiration from a remarkable true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about the transcendent power of storytelling and the immeasurable impact of every human life.