The Deep by Rivers Solomon
CW: Animal Death, Attempted Suicide, Grief, War, Hallucinations, Past Slavery, Man-Made Climate Threats, Self-harm, Trauma, Ableism, Racism, Drowning, Ritualistic Fasting and Binging, Described Overstimulation
5/5
The story behind River Solomon's The Deep is just as cool as the novella they wrote. Daveed Diggs, who lent his voice to the audiobook as narrator, described it as a game of telephone. This story has been told in several forms by several people, each retelling a little different. He described this as a feature of the game and not a failing. As cool as the backstory is, there is nothing to it that I can add. Because of that, this post is mostly an editorial, small part review. I'll be focusing on queer and autistic representation in the book. To fill the gap, I strongly encourage you all to listen to the audiobook to get the full experience (especially the afterward), to listen to clipping.'s song "The Deep", and to seek outside information on the story.
The Deep tells the tale of underwater creatures similar to merfolk, primarily Yetu, their historian. These creatures, the "wajinru", are the descendants of pregnant slaves that were thrown overboard. Over time they have decided that their history is too treacherous to dwell on. Once a year they share the memories of their past before passing them back to the historian. This is called "The Remembrance". It is the historian's job or burden to remember the rest of the time and to collect as many memories as they can. It is immediately evident to me, an autistic person, that Yetu is autistic as well. She easily gets lost in the memories she carries and she does not handle sensory experiences well. As deep-sea dwellers, the wajinru communicate through sonar and touch. The Remembrance is particularly intense as the memories are incredibly immersive.
Solomon, one of my favorites, is an autistic author. Although Yetu is never explicitly labeled as autistic in the novella, she absolutely is. It is not something the characters have a word for, but even before taking on the role of historian, she was different from her community. While she was picked as the successor due to her heightened ability to receive sensory input, her ability to handle it was not considered. Ultimately, The Deep is a story about a community learning not only how to face their past, but to accommodate an autistic member of their community who learns how to set boundaries. I will not spoil how, but I promise the book ends in a healthy way.
I appreciate the way Solomon approaches autism for their characters. Both Yetu and the main character of An Unkindness of Ghosts are never specifically labeled as autistic, but very clearly are. Allister people and Neurotypical folks tend to misunderstand what autism is, drawing from stereotypes portrayed in films like Forrest Gump and perpetuated by Autism Speaks. This is a narrow and negative view that doesn't focus much on autistic adults or at all on autistic people that were socialized as women. Solomon doesn't shy away from proper representation. Each autistic person has their own mix of traits and experiences with those traits. Solomon especially focuses on heightened senses, hyperfixation, being nonverbal, and thinking in ways that are different from others. One thing that these characters are not is unintelligent, as that is not what autism is. I hope to see more accurate representation of autism in literature and elsewhere! I desire for more characters like me.
The queer content does not surface until very far into the book. At one point in the story, Yetu ends up meeting some two-legged land folks. One is Oori, someone who Yetu believes is autistic. Because of their similarities, Yetu and Oori start to bond and gain feelings for each other. Oori has lost her home and her family. Because of this, she does not easily bond with others. She does kind things for the people she knows, but not with the desire to be close to them. Yetu is different, worth getting to know. The two discuss their experiences as wajinru and human. One such topic is genitalia. The wajinru are very open to differences in gender and attraction. They all have both forms of genitalia, but some identity as women, men, both, neither, and in between. Polyamory is also quite common for them. Fantasy stories should not be afraid to ditch queer-phobia. If you can create any world you want, why would you want to keep that?
If you enjoy mermaids, Afrofuturism, positive autistic representation, or Solomon's storytelling, you should absolutely read The Deep. The experience of reading this novella is enhanced by consuming it in audiobook format, so please consider choosing that over print. As it is a novella, it won't take much of your time, but every line is worth it! Thank you Solomon for another wonderful story.
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