The Anniversary

An addictive and dangerously readable literary thriller, longlisted for the 2024 Stella Prize

'It was always hard to tell where our marriage ended, and my work began. I often dream now that I am drifting in a dark sea, the water around me lukewarm, like blood.'

With a stay-up-all-night plot, breathtaking prose, this is the story of a marriage and a death.

'Tense, elegant, sensuous.' Niamh Campbell, author of WE WERE YOUNG

'In The Anniversary Stephanie Bishop expertly and mercilessly builds an atmosphere of intense uncertainty and threat. You won't want to put it down.' Chris Power, author of MOTHERS

'The dread that slowly creeps into your bones while reading The Anniversary is difficult to shake off, yet you cannot look away. I revelled in every bit of this astute, compelling, psychological novel.' Virginia Feito, author of MRS MARCH

'Exquisite, profound, and utterly exhilarating: The Anniversary is a stunning achievement.' Mark Brandi, author of WIMMERA

Novelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Her former professor, Patrick is much older than J.B. But when they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all new gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. He is a film director. A cult figure. But now his success is starting to wane and J.B. is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize. Her art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his.
For days they sail in the sun. They lie about drinking, reading, sleeping, having sex. There is nothing but dark water all around them.
Then a storm hits and Patrick falls off the ship. J.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick - and the truth about their marriage - begins.