Small Boat

In November 2021, a flimsy inflatable boat carrying migrants from France to the UK capsized in the English Channel. Twenty-seven people died—marking the deadliest migrant tragedy in the Channel’s history.

Though the passengers made repeated emergency calls, French authorities insisted they were in British waters and passed responsibility to the UK. Nearly three hours passed before rescue vessels arrived. By then, only two people had survived.

Vincent Delecroix’s novel imagines the voice of the French navy officer who took the calls—a fictional first-person account that attempts to rationalize the irredeemable. Accused of dereliction of duty, she refuses to bear sole responsibility for the catastrophe, pointing instead to the larger systems behind such tragedies.

How far does our responsibility extend—and what does it mean to look away?

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.