The Sea in the Metro

On the métro I ask her if she can see the sea. She points at me. Not la mère, I laugh. La mer! The sea! I can’t see the sea, or myself as a mother, right now. All I see is sneakers and a skateboard and two shabby suitcases, one blue, one red. A soft, sweet head, curls tied up in pigtails, my face in them …

Jayne is a new mother in Paris trying to balance her creative ambition and lust for city life with the instinctual urges of motherhood - and failing.

As her relationship with her husband and the city strains, she searches for answers in a friendship with an older Frenchwoman, the streets, the crowds, in art and writing and new wave cinema… but finds only more questions. Something has to give, but what?

From the critically acclaimed author of Paris or Die and My Sweet Guillotine comes a powerfully written story of desire, art and the complexity of modern womanhood.

Praise for The Sea in the Metro:

‘An imaginatively crafted exploration of the conflicting desires that come with the urge to live, in the context of the everyday.’ —The Sydney Morning Herald

‘Jayne Tuttle wears her heart on her sleeve: such a strange saying, but here, apt because everything she feels is written down, bare as bones, in this glorious immersion into the early years of parenthood. I read it with my hands up to my face, hiding from my own memories, as I gave myself over to the tremendous power of this story.’ —Readings

‘It is easy to recommend The Sea in the Metro. Between interesting commentaries on gender and what home truly is, Tuttle’s stirring writing is engrossing and provides a fascinating portrait on motherhood in Paris.’ —Westwords

‘An intimate, multidimensional cartography of both the city and her inner world.’ —The Big Issue

‘Jayne Tuttle has created an exquisite portrait of a marriage adapting to the instability of parenthood, cast against a vivid backdrop of real Parisian life. A rare gem.' —Natasha Brown, author of Universality

‘This is a book like sheet lightning: sudden, illuminating and sometimes terrifying. The Sea in the Metro tells the story of falling out of love with a city and back in love with life, the perfect denouement to Jayne Tuttle’s Paris trilogy. Frank. Devastating. Hilarious.' —Tegan Bennett-Daylight, author of The Details

‘The Sea in the Metro is a paean to the big life, and depicts it in all its fizzing, thrilling complexity. A book of questions, longing, and falling in and out of love with motherhood, the city, and love itself. I adored it.' —Dominic Amerena, author of I Want Everything

‘Stunning. Her best yet. The Sea in the Metro proves that Jayne Tuttle is a major talent.' —Toni Jordan, author of Tenderfoot

‘Sometimes reading The Sea in the Metro is like looking in a mirror. Confronting. Other times it’s like watching a football match complete with involuntary gasps, the occasional boo and a loud and lusty cheering on of our heroine. Which is all to say that the book is an entirely immersive experience. What a feat Jayne Tuttle’s latest book is. I loved it.’ —Sophie Cunningham, author of This Devastating Fever

‘A whirlwind of longing – mother-longing, lover-longing, artist-longing – this book will sweep you off your feet.’ —Siang Lu, author of Ghost Cities

‘Epic, fearless and compellingly honest ... Tuttle’s writing rings with authenticity while facing the darker, utterly real moments of motherhood, desire and the beautiful, infuriating pursuit of art.' —Katherine Brabon, author of Body Friend

‘Living intersections of bodies and wit, there is an addictive element about it - memory, consciousness, motherhood.’ —Misha Honcharenko, author of Trap Unfolds me Greedily

‘Lyrical, fierce and often funny, The Sea in the Metro is a wonderfully vivid self-portrait of a young woman navigating the entanglements of love and loss, mortality and motherhood, creativity and paying the bills. It’s also a profound meditation on the idea of home. I loved it.’ —Jennifer Higgie, author of The Other Side, A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World

‘The Sea in the Metro is a paean to the big life, and depicts it in all its fizzing, thrilling complexity. A novel of questions, longing, and falling in and out of love with motherhood, the city, and love itself. I adored it.’ —Dominic Amerena, author of I Want Everything

‘An insightful, compelling and (occasionally) painful exploration of working motherhood. The push and pull between creating art and earning a living, the difficulty of challenging gender roles in a relationship, the strangeness of building a life in a new country and culture … The Sea in the Metro beautifully brings all of these complex ideas together, with piercing clarity. Jayne Tuttle has created an exquisite portrait of a marriage adapting to the instability of parenthood, cast against a vivid backdrop of real Parisian life. A rare gem.' —Natasha Brown, author of Assembly and Universality