The Shadows Tomorrow

Sea of Tranquility meets Dark Matter in this dizzying speculative thriller following a clan of Neanderthals living in isolation on a nature reserve and the scientists who care for them.

"This provocative cautionary tale will leave readers questioning what it truly means to be human." --Publishers Weekly

A clan of humans--they hunt and gather, they have lovers and rivals, their own society. They pass on the legends of their ancestors and celebrate festival nights. Their world is the forest which feeds them, and, aside from the fierce cold and illness, the only thing they have to fear is the Beast who prowls the impassable Bounds. They do not know that beyond it an entirely different world exists: our world.

Set in the near future, the Neanderthal race has been recreated from fragments of DNA and reintroduced on a nature reserve where they are observed and studied, ultimately becoming the subjects of a hit documentary series. Following a cast of characters across time: Blood Moon, the leader of the Neanderthal clan who is mourning the death of her partner, Blizzard; Eva and Noah, scientists in modern-day Paris hired to work on a top-secret project; Jules, a teenager growing up in a secluded mountain town with a suspiciously pronounced brow; Adam, an actor brought to appear on NeanderTales for the first time; and finally, the man behind the project--but is he Sapien or Neanderthal?

A reeling suspense novel with shocking surprises that also sheds light on our ethical and moral considerations in and out of nature, showing the other human we could have been, The Shadows Tomorrow will grip you until the very end.

Author: Noelle Michel,Frank Wynne
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 08/04/2026
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.66lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781668051269


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/01/2026

About the Author
Noëlle Michel is a translator and author. An engineer in biological engineering, she worked for ten years in wastewater treatment. Passionate about languages and literature, she became a freelance translator. Initially specializing in technical translation, she then developed her skills in literary translation. Noëlle lives and works in Ghent, Belgium.

Frank Wynne has translated works by authors including Michel Houellebecq, Patrick Modiano, Virginie Despentes, and Mathias Enard. His work has earned many awards, including the Dublin Literary Award, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and the Premio Valle Inclán.