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Deeper than the Ocean

Deeper than the Ocean Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Mirta Ojito

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Nov 4, 2025
Page Count
352 pages
Publisher
Union Square & Co.
ISBN-13
9781454961901

Price

$28.99

Format

Format:

  1. Hardcover $28.99
  2. ebook $14.99
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $31.99

Buy from Other Retailers:

A moving multigenerational novel about the enduring power of a mother’s love, the ripple effect of secrets, and the strength of family bonds from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

In 1919 Spain, Catalina Quintana is the eldest daughter in a family of silkworm farmers on the tiny island of La Palma in the remote Canary Islands. Fiercely independent, Catalina dreams of building a life with her childhood love. But when a devastating fire ruins her family’s silkworm farm, she’s forced into a loveless marriage and a journey across the sea to Cuba aboard a doomed ocean liner.
     A century later, in 2019, journalist Mara Denis travels to La Palma to cover a modern-day disaster near the island. But the trip becomes personal when her mother asks her to find a long-lost birth certificate. Long haunted by the sea and plagued by dreams of a daughter she’s never had, Mara begins to uncover a hidden family history that centers on Catalina, her great-grandmother who, she soon discovers, is listed among the dead in the infamous Valbanera shipwreck. As Mara follows Catalina’s trail across Spain, Cuba, and Key West, she unearths a story of forbidden love and resilience that echoes through six generations.
     Told in a dual narrative that moves seamlessly between past and present, Deeper than the Ocean is a meditation on the strength of women, the enduring power of a mother’s love, and the corrosive hold of family secrets across oceans and time.

This sweeping novel is perfect for fans of Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, and Kristin Hannah.

  • "Pulitzer-winning journalist Ojito makes her fiction debut with an affecting parallel narrative of two women...This one’s tough to shake."
    Publishers Weekly
  • "[T]he book delivers all that historical fiction fans could want: There’s passion. Love. Loss. The Old World, the New World. The real shipwreck of the Valbanera... a modern quest for identity and home that uncovers long-guarded family secrets."
    AARP
  • "[A]n appealing novel based in fact, combining aspects of literary and historical fiction."
    Library Journal
  • "[A] very personal work, weaving fiction into and among events that mostly took place more than 100 years ago... [an] exquisitely written novel.
    Historical Novel Society
  • "[A] story of complex passions, tragic destinies, and Latin American culture that recalls the novels of Isabel Allende...A strong debut graced by vivid settings, strong female characters, and classic storytelling."
    Kirkus

Mirta Ojito

About the Author

Born in Havana, Mirta Ojito is a journalist, professor, and author who has worked at the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, and the New York Times. The recipient of an Emmy for the documentary Harvest of Misery as well as a shared Pulitzer for national reporting in 2001 for a series of articles about race in America for the New York Times, Ojito was an assistant professor of journalism at Columbia University for almost nine years. She is the author of two award-winning nonfiction books: Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus and Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town. Currently, Ojito is a senior director on the NBC News Standards team working at Telemundo Network. Deeper than the Ocean is her debut novel.

Learn more about this author