-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Summary | Discuss | Reviews | More Information | Read-Alikes
A Novel
by Lidija Hilje
Spanning across twenty years and one life-altering summer in Croatia, Slanting Towards the Sea is at once an unforgettable love story and a powerful exploration of what it means to come of age in a country younger than oneself.
Ivona divorced the love of her life, Vlaho, a decade ago. They met as students at the turn of the millennium, when newly democratic Croatia was alive with hope and promise. But the challenges of living in a burgeoning country extinguished Ivona's dreams one after another—and a devastating secret forced her to set him free.
Now Vlaho is remarried and a proud father of two, while Ivona's life has taken a downward turn. In her thirties, she has returned to her childhood home to care for her ailing father. Bewildered by life's disappointments, she finds solace in reconnecting with Vlaho and is welcomed into his family by his spirited new wife, Marina. But when a new man enters Ivona's life, the carefully cultivated dynamic between the three is disrupted, forcing a reckoning for all involved.
Set against the mesmerizing Croatian coastline, Slanting Towards the Sea is a cinematic, emotionally searing debut about the fragile nature of potential and the transcendence of love.
What are you reading this week? (7/24/2025)
I just finished 'Slanting Towards the Sea' by Lidija Hilje (4 stars) and started 'Atmosphere' by Taylor Jenkins Reid this morning.
-Evonne_Benedict
"The author beautifully portrays Ivona's grief, heartache, and determination to reinvent her life. Fans of Rachel Cusk will love this." —Publishers Weekly
"With nuanced characters, Slanting Towards the Sea is a novel of family and the love that shapes us." —Booklist
"An utterly hypnotic debut that wrings a reader's attention with fierce and breathtaking acuity. Each page is flooded with transportive prose and stirring intimacy as Hilje weaves the story of three enmeshed souls whose longing is only eclipsed by the stunning grace they offer one another. This novel unfurls within the complicated beauty of Croatia, an ideal cinematic backdrop to this extraordinary love story. Artful, intensely moving, and unforgettable in every way." —Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon
"With illuminating prose and gripping storytelling, Hilje asserts her place among the very few exciting new voices in world's literature who can bridge across languages and cultures. Slanting Towards the Sea is a love letter to Croatia and to anyone who dares to dream." —Nguyen Phan Que Mai, internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child
This information about Slanting Towards the Sea was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lidija Hilje is a Croatian novelist and certified book coach. After ten years of trying cases before Croatian courts, she obtained a book coaching certification and has been working professionally with writers ever since. She lives in Zadar, Croatia, with her husband and two daughters. Slanting Towards the Sea is her first novel.
If you liked Slanting Towards the Sea, try these:
by Ocean Vuong
Published 2026
Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.
by Hannah Stowe
Published 2025
A book to sweep you away from the shore, into a wild world of water, whale, storm, and starlight— to experience what it's like to sail for weeks at a time with life set to a new rhythm.
by Heather O'Neill
Published 2025
From the hugely acclaimed author beloved by literary lights, including Emily St. John Mandel, Kelly Link, and Mona Awad, a dark dystopian fairytale about an idyllic country ravaged by war—and a girl torn between safety and loyalty.
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
