A modern day Heart of Darkness set in the world of underwater diving and communication cable repair. The narrator is an author who is along for the ride in order to write a feature story about the dangers, yet necessities of these repairs. The Kurtz-like character Conway is an enigma, and the narrator spends the entirety of the novel trying to learn who Conway really is.

McCann presents an interesting “twist” on the classic novel, discussing the power and greed that create this work. Those who control the information control the power. Much like Kurtz, Conway goes off the rails with no indication of what his end goal truly is. The characters are richly developed, but I was never a fan of Heart of Darkness, so this was a bit of a slog for me at times.

Quite interesting - I did not know that fiber optic cables are under our oceans. This is a story of that as well as how they are repaired - with some interesting characters. I found it fascinating - the diving - the boat.

McCann is just a flawless writer. It took me a long time to start this novel, but once I started I absolutely couldn't put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This short novel covered a lot of different themes; ecoterrorism, connectedness, purpose, post-colonial societies, atonement for life mistakes, etc., and while it was wonderfully written, it did not have as much heart as I think it could. The story follows an alcoholic, middle aged writer as he is assigned a story upon a ship that fixes underwater cables off the coast of Africa. He meets a couple, Conway and Zanele, who captivate him (strangely) and he becomes obsessed with both of them as he spends months upon the ship. I definitely didn’t dislike this book but I am curious about the point it is trying to make. I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I’ve always enjoyed McCann’s storytelling and this is no exception. Irish journalist, Fennell, is assigned a story on the underwater cables that carry our news around the world. The internet is dependent on these cables. In Capetown, he meets a fellow Irishman, Conway, chief of a cable repair ship. Fennell travels on Conway’s as they set out along the African coast to repair the cable. Who is Conway? What is his story? What does he want? I felt as if I was reading a Conrad novel.

📕Every message, every news, every image relies on fiber optic cables buried under water to carry them from sender to recipient. Blaming bad/sad/horrific news/messages/images to these cables though feels little bit like shooting the messenger
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📗When Anthony Fennell was tasked to cover the life on and operations of the ships mending these fiber optic cables, he probably thought this was going to be few days of work and a college essay like assignment. When he met the operations lead, he found himself being more intrigued with this dude and his ideals
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📘I was curious about the operations of the ship too, but I struggled with Fennell’s obsession with the ops lead and people in his life. I understand there is little bit of an environmental flavor in the story, but I feel somewhat lost

Full disclosure: Colum McCann is one of my favorite authors, and I was beyond thrilled when he agreed to be the guest speaker at our library's annual author luncheon last year for his book, American Mother. He is as genuinely kind as he is extraordinarily talented. He told us back then that he had a new novel coming out this year, so when it came up in NetGalley, I requested it immediately. But when I read the summary, it gave me pause.

McCann tends to tackle big questions through unexpected perspectives, but I wasn't sure if the technical aspects were going to overshadow the story for me. Who knew the internet ran on cables under the sea? (Ok, probably lots of people.) Before I read it, I recommended the book to two people who did: my brother, who works in fiber optics (at least I think he does, I'm not really sure), and my husband, who loves a good undersea adventure. But why was I hesitant to read it? McCann is a sure thing! I had no trouble recommending the book to people I care about without even opening it! Finally, I dove in. (yes, I know.) Why did I ever doubt Colum McCann? Of course there was a lot of technical information, but this was all in service to the plot, the character building, and the distinct settings. I was on the edge of my seat, and I was wiping away tears. McCann offers deeply moving and compelling insight into the internet and the world it has so swiftly changed, and, as usual, gave me a lot to think about when it was over.

An excellent story about an unusual subject, the repairing of underwater cables carrying information around the world. The main character, a reporter, is writing a story about the crew and captain that ventures out into the sea to fix the cable. Along the way, we follow the reporter’s adventure and that of the captain of the ship. Very detailed, yet quite readable and interesting. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Genre defying literary novel, this story is about the twisting cables that bring us the internet from under the sea, but also the twisting relationships between humans, nature and the modern world. A modern retelling of "The Great Gatsby", this story is about a journalist wracked with guilt and loneliness and the enigmatic character John Conway, who is the leader of a a group that repairs fiber optic cables undersea. Anthony Fennell is an Irish journalist who has battled alcohol and his guilt at leaving behind a son who is now 16 years old. Fennell is given an assignment to write an article about the ships that are sent to repair the information cables whose breaks cause communications to cease in communities around the world. Fennell is given the name of Conway who leads a team out of Cape Town, South Africa and he meets with him to help understand the role of fiber optic cables and hopes to be invited onto the ship that repairs them when they break.

Conway is a reluctant character; he supplies the crew and expertise to repair these broken cables while at the same time he has no use for modern technology, even carrying a flip phone. Fennell becomes intrigued with Conway but also with his partner Zanele who he meets at Conway's home. Zanele is an actress with two children and met Conway through diving, a hobby the two characters share. Conway talks to Fennell about "free diving" which is an activity where the diver learns to build up air in their lungs and than dives without the aid of an air tank. Fennell than joins Conway's crew as they make their way to several breaks in the hopes of repairing these vital lifelines to communication, business and modern life. This is a story about severed connections, both in the digital and the real world.

At one point Conway disappears and this begins another section in the novel in which includes issues of ecoterrorism, and Fennell becomes obsessed with connecting with Conway and Zanele. . The technical information on the cable repairs was fascinating and the connections between the cables and the twisting of human nature and the nature of belonging is unraveled in a beautiful and meaningful way. I would have liked to find out a little more about Conway, but I found the book fascinating and haunting, Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

This was a frustrating book. The underlying writing style was fine, and the subject matter showed potential, but the book was not really engaging. The plot seemed all over the place, and by the time it got to any action I was already annoyed and a bit bored. The first person narration actually served to put so much distance between the reader and anything actually happening that it was hard to care about the story. The narrator, a recovering alcoholic writer with writer's block, came across as arrogant, self centered, and oddly naive. He has to insert himself in so much that is none of his business, and that he can only have at best partial knowledge of, and as a result we are basically getting a gossipy ramble instead of a suspenseful or insightful book on why people might choose to commit illegal acts easily attributed to terrorism. There is also so little foreshadowing that most likely many readers will DNF this one long before they know there is any such element to the plot. Mostly I was alternating between 'why do I care?' and 'this guy is so annoying'. Not a great novel, though it could have been much worse.

My book boyfriend Colum McCann again works his magic by spinning an absolute riveting tale about…underwater cables and the people who repair them.

You may think, as I initially did, that this doesn’t sound like something you’d enjoy. But then you remember this is Colum freakin’ McCann and you are immediately proven wrong because this is a novel about rupture and repair, about the fragility of our connections. It’s the type of book that says so much in short, staccato sentence fragments (perhaps a nod to Morse code?) and it’s not a particularly lengthy novel, either, which makes it even more of an unforgettable, absolute timely and powerful story. I loved this and it deserves so much more attention than it has received. Seriously, WHERE IS THE BUZZ AND HYPE FOR THIS GLORIOUS MASTERPIECE?!

At the literal bottom of the ocean is a vast network of thin tubes that carry all of the world’s electronic information. (Did you know this? Like I seriously had no freakin’ idea. None whatsoever.) And every so often, these fragile tubes break. In McCann’s story, Anthony Fennell is an Irish journalist traveling aboard a ship with the crew responsible for repairing the ruptures in this integral yet delicate system. He’s carrying his own emotional baggage, as is the ship’s captain, the elusive John Conway. As the publisher’s description says, “at sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair?”

Glorious. Loved it. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Delighted to include this title in the March edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Colum McCann’s Twist is a compact yet powerful work that showcases his remarkable talent for poetic storytelling. With his signature lyrical prose, McCann creates a deeply emotional atmosphere that pulls readers into a world shaped by memory, movement, and quiet beauty.

What stands out most in Twist is McCann’s ability to turn a single moment into something profound. His writing is graceful and reflective, capturing the delicate balance between risk and control, joy and pain. Rather than relying on a complex plot, McCann builds meaning through emotion, rhythm, and imagery.

The novella feels almost like a dance itself—fluid, precise, and deeply human. It reminds us that even the briefest experiences can leave lasting impressions. Twist is a celebration of art, of resilience, and of finding light in unexpected places.

This is a book that lingers long after it's finished. Thoughtful and beautifully written, Twist is a moving example of how literature can elevate the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Random House Publishing for providing me with an advanced reader copy of Twist by Colum McCann. Unfortunately, this review won’t be short and sweet, but instead short and bitter.

I did not finish this book and the portion that I did read felt like a bit like wading through a bog and someone yelling at me that I have to like The Brothers Karamasov. This book made me feel dumb and that is my least favorite feeling as a reader as it makes me feel insecure. Books are my place of comfort and safety and that is not the feeling I got from Twist.

Thanks again to NetGalley and Random House.

“The most casual things can, after all, twist our tired hearts.” So many profound statements, such as this one, can be found in this well-written tale of many layers.

This story about the ocean, the sea, cables, boats, repairs, marriage, sabotage, loneliness, and darkness is a tale not to be missed.

Colum McCann created an intriguing story.

Meet Anthony Fennell, who had previously told one of his editors that he was interested in “repairs”. His editor of an online magazine, comes across a story about a cable break in Vietnam and had been surprised to learn that nearly all the world’s intercontinental information was carried in fragile tubes in the seafloor. On occasion, the tubes broke, and there was a small fleet of ships in various ports around the world charged with their repairs. Did Anthony want to explore this story?

Fennell will have more than one adventure when he decides to take on this assignment, which leads him to The Georges Lecointe, one of the business cable repair vessels in the world. He is more than ready to write his story about connections and repairs. Can he achieve Tikkun Olam?

Among the many things you will learn about Anthony will be about his failed marriage to Irena, a choreographer and his estranged 16 year old son Joli, both living in Chile. They seem to be lingering in the backdrop of his lonely life. Once Fennel goes onto the boat, his life and thoughts become entwined with the other main character in the book, John Conway, the Chief of Mission.

The interplay between Conway and Fennell is often terse and tender. Fennell had met Zanele, Conway’s lover, and her two children before going on the boat. She remains a lingering character in Conway’s story throughout the book.

Does Conway love his life on the boat, which sometimes encounters storms 200 miles wide and waves of 6 floors high? Does he love the repairs to the cables he has done? Or does he just like the bottom of the ocean?


“We are all shards in the smash-up”. A foreshadowing of what Conway is thinking about that leads to his demise?

Read this wonderful book!

I did not like this book but part of me wonders if that was the point. It’s chaotic, fragmented, and full of loose ends. The only constant is a sense of despair, underscored by a recurring turbulence motif. It feels original, even well-written in its disarray, but the experience of reading it was frustrating. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, least of all the narrator, whose headspace felt like a pit of despair I didn’t want to inhabit. I drifted between boredom and a desperate need to understand what was happening, though I never quite did. I couldn’t grasp anyone’s motivations or even their relationships with each other. Maybe I’m too simple a reader, but I prefer a clearer narrative and a more satisfying resolution. It was a bleak voyage with themes about globalization, digitization, and our disconnecting, destructive demise. It might resonate more with readers who enjoy experimental, disorienting fiction. It might be great, but I couldn’t get there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for access to this book.

Three stars is a very generous rating for this. For so much of the story, I wondered if the story had an actual point. By the time it became clear, and started getting interesting, the book was almost over and I was ready to move on.
Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhouse for this #arc of #twist in exchange for an honest review.

Lyrical, moving, and emotional, Twist also had a propulsive energy that matched that of the ocean, which was as much a viable character as the two men entwined in this journey. Well done, I definitely recommend !

I had mixed feelings when I started this book. I knew about the cables under water from my first job, where we depended on those cables to reach South Africa and the Middle East, back then they were called a telex, which eventually became so much more. So I was a little interested in learning about how they fixed them.

Along the way way in the story there was so much more, the characters and the other storylines were well received and I enjoyed them as well.

I have mixed feelings about the book, but it was a good read.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for this advanced reader copy and this is my honest opinion.

First published in Great Britain in 2025; published by ‎ Random House on March 25, 2025

My favorite writers are disproportionately Irish. Colum McCann is high on that list. His prose blends power and lyricism. His books capture larger truths than the small stories he tells.

The character who narrates Twist is a writer. Anthony Fennell tells the reader that after writing two novels he deems “minor successes,” he fell into “a clean, plain silence.” Fennell has become dissatisfied with his life in Dublin. “So much of my recent life had been lived between the lines. All the caution tape. All the average griefs. All the rusty desires.”

Feeling the need to get away, Fennell accepts an assignment to write an article about broken undersea cables. To that end, his editor arranges for him to accompany the crew of a cable repair ship. He travels to South Africa, where he meets John Conway, who leads cable repair missions. Members of Conway’s repair crew tell him that Conway’s biography has unexplained gaps. Intrigued, Fennell wants to learn more about Conway, but Conway is reticent when asked about his past. Fennell uses a phrase from Leonard Cohen to describe him: “Conway had that secret chord — the sort of man who was there and not there at the same time.”

While waiting for a cable to break, Fennell meets Conway’s beautiful partner Zanele, a South African woman who escaped the slums and was educated in the United States. Fennell regards Conway and Zanele as “the South Africa I had wanted to see, a couple crossing the lines, Black and white, the proof of the times, the ancient conventions dissolving.” Before the ship leaves harbor, Zanele departs for London, where she has a part in Waiting for Godot (much to the chagrin of Beckett’s estate, which is enforcing Beckett’s insistence that “the roles in the play were specifically not for women”). Fennell has the sense that something in Conway’s relationship with Zanele is broken but Conway will not speak to Fennell about his personal life until they have been at sea for weeks, when he finally loses patience with Conway's inquisitive nature.

Fennell’s interior voice also frets about his inability to establish a relationship with his “sloe-eyed son.” Fennell hasn’t seen his son, who now lives in Santiago, for five years. For reasons he can’t explain, Fennell denies that he has any children when Zanele asks him about his family. Conway fears that his son feels abandoned, although “his mother had been the one to actually leave, but it certainly felt that I had propelled her.”

Most of the story consists of Fennell’s observation of Conway and speculation about Zanele, mixed with fascinating descriptions of men at work. In addition to learning how undersea cables are repaired, Fennell ponders the international dependence on cables for news and all manner of information, “all the love notes, all the algorithms, all the financial dealings, the solicitations, the prescriptions, the solutions, the insinuations” — the list of things that travel under the sea continues for most of a page. Fennell develops a sense of wonder about cables and their traffic that a reader might find infectious.

After the groundwork has been laid, Twist takes a twist. All I will say is that Conway disappears, unexpectedly and without warning. Fennell foreshadows an eventful change in Conway’s life when, early in the novel, he explains that he is telling what he knows of Conway’s story to counter the impressions left by “the websites and platforms and rumor mills” that “will create paywalls out of the piles of shredded facts.” Fennell wants to set the record straight, although he can only speculate about Conway’s motivation for actions that earned him a degree of notoriety.

The primary theme of Twist is repair. The story sends its protagonist on a ship that repairs undersea cables, but the journey gives Fennell an opportunity to repair his life. But who is he kidding, he asks himself. “The idea of an actual repair was the sort of soul-destroying bullshit that I needed to strenuously avoid.” At sea, free from the alcohol that usually protects him from the pain of clear thought, Fennell has a chance to consider repairing his own life. What steps he will take, if any, are left for the closing pages.

Conway has a different take on repair. He has come to view repairs as temporary, perhaps pointless. He fixes one cable and another breaks. What good comes from repairing them? He doesn’t feel responsible for the evil that the internet enables, yet he acknowledges that “we’re just putting the ends together so people can ruin one another.”

Conway questions the value of repair when he learns that Zanele has been attacked but is on the mend in England. “Everything gets fixed,” he says, “and we all stay broken.” As Fennell describes Conway’s relationship with Zanele: “They were rupturing. They were part of the broken things. We all are.”

The novel’s secondary theme is turbulence. Heisenberg tried “to mathematically determine the precise transition of a smoothly flowing liquid into a turbulent flow” without much success. The turbulence of life is no more easily explained. “Down below, the turbulence gathered. The Congo had unrecognized depths. All the things we didn’t know. All the things we were doing to ourselves. The manner in which we broke one another.” Conway’s turbulent relationship with Zanele may have been his undoing, the one thing Conway lacked the skill to repair.

Much like Moby-Dick, to which McCann pays tribute, Twist is built upon an ode to the sea. Life originated in hydrothermal vents deep beneath the ocean, but when Fennell comments upon our evolutionary ancestors crawling out of the sea hundreds of millions of years ago, he does so with humility. The sea is our birthplace yet we understand little of its depths. Zanele laments its use as a dumping ground — more destruction that we may never be able to repair.

Apart from its full characters and thought-provoking story, Twist earns my admiration for McCann’s ability to craft honest sentences with the sharpness of daggers. A few of my favorites:

“At a certain stage our aloneness loses its allure.”

“Just because the truth is ignored,” she said, “doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“So much of who we are is who we cannot be.”

“The bottle does a good job of drinking the mind.”

“The best way to experience home is to lose it for a while.”

“Few of the stories we have inside ourselves ever get properly spoken.”

I can spend all day reading McCann and never feel that I’ve wasted a moment. Twist is a strong addition to his oeuvre.

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