'Waiting for the Flood' is two breakup stories for the price of one — and both broke my heart
Alexis Hall's 'Waiting for the Flood' understands what happens after love ends
Alexis Hall’s second Spires instalment bundles two novellas, following ex-partners Edwin and Marius as they each learn to live without the other.
‘Waiting for the Flood’ is technically two books in one, and that’s exactly why it works.
Originally published as a stand-alone novella in Hall’s Spires series, it was rereleased in 2024 with a companion story, ‘Chasing the Light’, bundled in and they really do make the most sense read as a single novel.
The first half follows Edwin Tully, still living in the home he shared with his partner of 10 years, Marius, in the wake of their breakup.
Edwin’s floodwaters are literal — his village is bracing for one — and figurative, as he tries to work out what to do with a life that has quietly ended without him.
I loved being swept up in Edwin’s story: the question of what you do when the love of your life simply ends things.
Do you move on? Or do you sink into yourself and wait for something better to come along?
For most of Edwin’s half, I resented Marius, the ex who walked away.
Then I read Marius’s story.
‘Chasing the Light’ hands the microphone to Marius, and the effect is immediate. Every assumption I’d made about him during Edwin’s half falls apart.
Following both men’s journeys, one after the other, is what makes this instalment so satisfying; Hall isn’t interested in villains, only in people who hurt each other while trying to survive their own lives.
Marius’s family are a highlight of the second novella, particularly his mother, Clementine, whose warmth anchors his half of the book.
I still haven’t made the Chankseliani family pierogi that turn up in her scenes, but it’s on my list.
Where ‘Glitterland’ set the tone for the Spires series, ‘Waiting for the Flood’ and ‘Chasing the Light’ prove Hall can do quieter, gentler heartbreak just as well as the sharper, funnier kind.
READ MORE: Why ‘Glitterland’ is the Alexis Hall book that started it all