Waist Deep: A Novel

By: Linea Maja Ernst

Published by S&S/Summit Books, 2026-06-09

“Clever, wry, and incredibly sexy.” —Susannah Dickey, author of Tennis Lessons

The luscious summer novel and international sensation.

A story about friends, lovers, and friends' lovers.

Five friends from university; seven summer days in a lakehouse in Denmark. A chance to swim, catch up, and mess around like old times.

But the idyll is fragile. Lost without the uninhibited magic of their youth, Sylvia is left wondering what happened to the radical ways of living they embraced at university. Tensions rise under moonlit swims and wine-drenched dinners, and Sylvia is stunned to learn her old crush Esben will be getting married at the end of the week—a crush her monogamous girlfriend would definitely not approve. While the group sunbathe, cook, and flirt their way to midsummer night, new desires prove not everyone has left their arcadian fantasies behind.

An instant bestseller in Scandinavia and now translated into ten languages, Waist Deep is a modern Midsummer Night’s Dream that offers a provocative flourish to the perennial question: does growing up have to mean giving up on your dreams?