What do you think?
Rate this book
Deeper than the Ocean
A moving multigenerational novel about the enduring power of a mother’s love, the ripple effect of secrets, and the strength of family bonds from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
One hundred years after the shipwreck of the Valbanera, known to history as the “poor man’s Titanic,” Mara Denis gets an assignment to report on the Canary Islands, where her ancestors lived before they moved to Cuba. Unexpectedly, she discovers that the grandmother her mother cherished was listed among the dead of the Valbanera, years before Mara’s mother was even born. This fateful twist changes everything Mara thought she knew about her family and herself, and sends her on a quest to find the truth. If her great grandmother is a ghost, who is she and where did she come from?
In spare, beautiful writing, the author transports the reader to the Canary Islands and Cuba in the early part of the twentieth century and New York and Key West in the present. This is an epic tale of a young woman’s passion for her beloved, as well as the redeeming power of family secrets at last uncovered.
This moving, sweeping novel is perfect for fans of Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, and Kristin Hannah.
One hundred years after the shipwreck of the Valbanera, known to history as the “poor man’s Titanic,” Mara Denis gets an assignment to report on the Canary Islands, where her ancestors lived before they moved to Cuba. Unexpectedly, she discovers that the grandmother her mother cherished was listed among the dead of the Valbanera, years before Mara’s mother was even born. This fateful twist changes everything Mara thought she knew about her family and herself, and sends her on a quest to find the truth. If her great grandmother is a ghost, who is she and where did she come from?
In spare, beautiful writing, the author transports the reader to the Canary Islands and Cuba in the early part of the twentieth century and New York and Key West in the present. This is an epic tale of a young woman’s passion for her beloved, as well as the redeeming power of family secrets at last uncovered.
This moving, sweeping novel is perfect for fans of Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, and Kristin Hannah.
Audible Audio
Published November 4, 2025
134 people are currently reading
6111 people want to read
About the author
Mirta Ojito
4 books34 followersMirta Ojito is a journalist, professor, and author who has worked at the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, and the New York Times. The recipient of an Emmy for the documentary Harvest of Misery as well as a shared Pulitzer for national reporting in 2001 for a series of articles about race in America for the New York Times, Ojito was an assistant professor of journalism at Columbia University for almost nine years. She is the author of two award-winning nonfiction books: Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus and Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town. Currently, Ojito is a senior director on the NBC News Standards team working at Telemundo Network,
A refugee from Cuba, her work often explores the complexities of identity, belonging, and the quiet power of resilience. She lives in Coral Gables, Florida, where she is endlessly inspired—and occasionally outnumbered—by her three grown sons and too many plants. Deeper than the Ocean is her first novel.
A refugee from Cuba, her work often explores the complexities of identity, belonging, and the quiet power of resilience. She lives in Coral Gables, Florida, where she is endlessly inspired—and occasionally outnumbered—by her three grown sons and too many plants. Deeper than the Ocean is her first novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
November 16, 2025
"Deeper than the Ocean" is a dual timeline, dual POV story that is both engaging and thought-provoking. Centered around the story of Catalina, a young woman who is steered into an unwanted arranged marriage, and her great-granddaughter Mara, who decades later seeks to unravel the mystery of Catalina's history (and the family lineage) after the sinking of the Valbanera. The book digs into multigenerational trauma and family relationships while weaving in a historical context that gently teaches without feeling heavy. The sense of place is excellent — I walked away with a clear sense of the Canary Islands and Cuba — and the writing engaged me easily. The characters are well developed and easy to connect with, brought to life easily by Kim Ramirez's strong narration. While this isn’t Mirta Orjioto’s first book, it appears to be her first foray into fiction, and I hope she keeps going down this path because I’ll happily pick up her next novel. This was a fantastic and entertaining read — 4.5 stars, rounded up.
Thank you to Harper Collins, NetGalley, and Mirta Ojito for an advance copy for honest review.
Thank you to Harper Collins, NetGalley, and Mirta Ojito for an advance copy for honest review.
June 11, 2025
Mirta Ojito heightens the historical novel to a level of credibility and emotional connection rarely seen.
Deeper Than the Ocean is one of those books that stay with you forever. With her journalistic precision and exquisite storytelling, Mirta Ojito captivates the reader with characters that move between love and loss, between exodus and reunion. An unforgettable book.
With her powerful narrative, Mirta Ojito takes you by hand from the United States to the Canary Islands, from the Canary Islands to Cuba, and from Cuba back to the states in a novel about painful losses and sweet discoveries. A renowned journalist who joyfully enters the world of fiction in a masterful way.
Deeper Than the Ocean is one of those books that stay with you forever. With her journalistic precision and exquisite storytelling, Mirta Ojito captivates the reader with characters that move between love and loss, between exodus and reunion. An unforgettable book.
With her powerful narrative, Mirta Ojito takes you by hand from the United States to the Canary Islands, from the Canary Islands to Cuba, and from Cuba back to the states in a novel about painful losses and sweet discoveries. A renowned journalist who joyfully enters the world of fiction in a masterful way.
June 16, 2025
This story is both beautiful and haunting.
Spanning over a century across different continents this multigenerational story is breathtaking in its exploration of love, loss, immigration and generational trauma.
With a dual narrative we follow Mara in the present day who is sent on an assignment to the Canary Islands. While there she begins to look in to her family history, believing her Great Grandmother was born there. She discovers that the matriarch so loved by her family was said to have been aboard, The Valbanera, the tragic shipwreck known as “The poor man’s titanic”, that sunk off the coast of Cuba along with her husband and baby. This twist shocks Mara in to the need to discover her own roots and family history, and the secrets that have been passed through the generations. If her Great Grandmother was aboard the ship then how did Mara come in to being? The narrative switches between Mara and Catalina, her Great Grandmother, and piece by piece we begin to unravel the mystery.
We get to know both women, who despite living decades apart share many of the same hopes, fears, and dreams.
This novel spoke to me as a new mother, the depth of a mother’s love is so poignantly described, the way our hearts change shape and the enormous weight the love carries. The pain on the page felt raw and visceral and I felt as though I was living in Catalina’s story. The author speaks so candidly about the fear of emigration, of how it feels to travel on a boat away from the only land you have ever known as home. Using her own firsthand experience in emigrating from Cuba as a teenager, we are swept up in emotion and this added so much depth to the story.
I am so grateful to have had the chance to read this before publication, thank you to NetGalley and Union Square and co for the eARC.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spanning over a century across different continents this multigenerational story is breathtaking in its exploration of love, loss, immigration and generational trauma.
With a dual narrative we follow Mara in the present day who is sent on an assignment to the Canary Islands. While there she begins to look in to her family history, believing her Great Grandmother was born there. She discovers that the matriarch so loved by her family was said to have been aboard, The Valbanera, the tragic shipwreck known as “The poor man’s titanic”, that sunk off the coast of Cuba along with her husband and baby. This twist shocks Mara in to the need to discover her own roots and family history, and the secrets that have been passed through the generations. If her Great Grandmother was aboard the ship then how did Mara come in to being? The narrative switches between Mara and Catalina, her Great Grandmother, and piece by piece we begin to unravel the mystery.
We get to know both women, who despite living decades apart share many of the same hopes, fears, and dreams.
This novel spoke to me as a new mother, the depth of a mother’s love is so poignantly described, the way our hearts change shape and the enormous weight the love carries. The pain on the page felt raw and visceral and I felt as though I was living in Catalina’s story. The author speaks so candidly about the fear of emigration, of how it feels to travel on a boat away from the only land you have ever known as home. Using her own firsthand experience in emigrating from Cuba as a teenager, we are swept up in emotion and this added so much depth to the story.
I am so grateful to have had the chance to read this before publication, thank you to NetGalley and Union Square and co for the eARC.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 10, 2026
I like books where family history unravels, secrets come into the light and understanding dawns. This one had that. It was a fun to see where this flowed. I liked the story but I wasn't as drawn to the characters as I like. So 3 stars.
December 3, 2025
“I love you higher than the sky and deeper than the ocean” - Hugo, Deeper than the Ocean by Mirta Ojito
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Audiobook: HarperCollins Canada Audio
Narrator: Kim Ramirez
5/5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is a MUST READ! I'm not surprised at all that Mirta Ojita is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist because…wow!
Ojita provides the perfect blend of historical fiction, romance, and suspense as the FMC Mara Denis works to uncover family secrets, mistruths, and hidden identities within the previous generations of her family. While doing so, she is also faced with choosing between the man she truly loves, Hugo, and the man whose money can save her family, Antonio.
Narrator Kim Ramirez also puts on an amazing performance in the audiobook version. The story is spoken with such grace, clarity, and gentle strength that perfectly reflects the character of Mara Denis. Sometimes with historical fiction, the audiobook can be hard to follow especially when it involves time jumps, but I found this one to be very clear and never confusing. It was overall very enjoyable!
Huge thank you to @harpercollinsca, @harpercollins and @netgalley for the #gifted ALC of this amazing book. All opinions are my own.
If you're a fan of the storytelling and style of Kristin Hannah and Clare Leslie Hall, then you will adore Deeper than the Ocean. Definitely check it out!
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Audiobook: HarperCollins Canada Audio
Narrator: Kim Ramirez
5/5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is a MUST READ! I'm not surprised at all that Mirta Ojita is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist because…wow!
Ojita provides the perfect blend of historical fiction, romance, and suspense as the FMC Mara Denis works to uncover family secrets, mistruths, and hidden identities within the previous generations of her family. While doing so, she is also faced with choosing between the man she truly loves, Hugo, and the man whose money can save her family, Antonio.
Narrator Kim Ramirez also puts on an amazing performance in the audiobook version. The story is spoken with such grace, clarity, and gentle strength that perfectly reflects the character of Mara Denis. Sometimes with historical fiction, the audiobook can be hard to follow especially when it involves time jumps, but I found this one to be very clear and never confusing. It was overall very enjoyable!
Huge thank you to @harpercollinsca, @harpercollins and @netgalley for the #gifted ALC of this amazing book. All opinions are my own.
If you're a fan of the storytelling and style of Kristin Hannah and Clare Leslie Hall, then you will adore Deeper than the Ocean. Definitely check it out!
January 20, 2026
Sweeping generational mystery covering Spain, Cuba & the USA.
January 4, 2026
2019 - Mara Denis, a Cuban-American journalist who fled Cuba with her family in a small boat 40 years earlier is now living in Spain. While on assignment to the Canary Islands to cover the drowning of African refugees, Mara receives a call from her mother in Florida asking her to track down a copy of the birth certificate of her great-grandmother, Catalina Quintana. Mara's search leads to the discovery that Catalina was listed among the dead of the Valbanera, a Spanish steamer bound for Cuba that sank off the coast of Florida in 1919.
A sweeping multigenerational novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Deeper than the Ocean alternates between Mara's search for answers about her family's history in the modern timeline and the story of Catalina who was born in the Canary Islands in 1900 and left Spain for Cuba in 1919 in the historical timeline. I enjoyed both timelines in this moving story that explores love, marriage, family, motherhood, emigration, long-held secrets and intergenerational trauma.
It was also quite interesting to learn about the history of the shipwreck of the Valbanera and a bit of the history of 20th century Cuba. A well-written, engaging historical fiction read with a great sense of place (both of Cuba and of the Canary Islands)!
A sweeping multigenerational novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Deeper than the Ocean alternates between Mara's search for answers about her family's history in the modern timeline and the story of Catalina who was born in the Canary Islands in 1900 and left Spain for Cuba in 1919 in the historical timeline. I enjoyed both timelines in this moving story that explores love, marriage, family, motherhood, emigration, long-held secrets and intergenerational trauma.
It was also quite interesting to learn about the history of the shipwreck of the Valbanera and a bit of the history of 20th century Cuba. A well-written, engaging historical fiction read with a great sense of place (both of Cuba and of the Canary Islands)!
December 16, 2025
Beautifully written story.
February 11, 2026
I really enjoyed reading this book. The authors writing and the development of the plot was great. A moving and powerful story! Loved it! And I would recommend!
My new fav book!
My new fav book!
January 7, 2026
This gripping story left me wrecked, much like the shipwreck that hovers over the novel, with author Mirta Ojito's characters, whose secrets and travel from Spain to the US, eventually, are at the heart of this story.
Mara Dennis is on her way to Spain for her next reporting assignment, when her mother Lila calls, and asks Mara to track down Lila’s mother’s birth certificate.
This search overtakes Mara, leading her to the Canary Islands, and a welcoming family she has never known about, to Havana, Cuba, where she was born, and many more secrets lie, unspoken, about the Cuban family she does know.
I could not put this book down, or stop listening to the audio (I switched back and forth). The story, and the various women of this family, starting from 1919 Spain with Catalina and her unwilling marriage to a wealthy man and their ill-fated trip to Havana. Her heartbreak, horrible loss, and slow rebuilding, all lead eventually to Mara’s and her parents’ secret flight from Cuba to the US. Then, many years later, Mara's need for direction after her husband's death, and subsequent travel to Spain and a search for a birth certificate, with the story coming full circle to answers found in Cuba.
Kim Ramirez narrates the audio, which I enjoyed also, going back and forth between prose and audiobook. Ramirez's Mara, Lila and Catalina are beautifully voiced, with her Catalina breaking my heart several times. Mara's fierce determination to find the truth, as well as her confronting her fears about the ocean (a legacy handed down through the generations) was beautifully handled.
This was a fantastic story, and I totally loved it.
Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins Canada and HarperCollins Canada Audio for these ARCs in exchange for my review.
Mara Dennis is on her way to Spain for her next reporting assignment, when her mother Lila calls, and asks Mara to track down Lila’s mother’s birth certificate.
This search overtakes Mara, leading her to the Canary Islands, and a welcoming family she has never known about, to Havana, Cuba, where she was born, and many more secrets lie, unspoken, about the Cuban family she does know.
I could not put this book down, or stop listening to the audio (I switched back and forth). The story, and the various women of this family, starting from 1919 Spain with Catalina and her unwilling marriage to a wealthy man and their ill-fated trip to Havana. Her heartbreak, horrible loss, and slow rebuilding, all lead eventually to Mara’s and her parents’ secret flight from Cuba to the US. Then, many years later, Mara's need for direction after her husband's death, and subsequent travel to Spain and a search for a birth certificate, with the story coming full circle to answers found in Cuba.
Kim Ramirez narrates the audio, which I enjoyed also, going back and forth between prose and audiobook. Ramirez's Mara, Lila and Catalina are beautifully voiced, with her Catalina breaking my heart several times. Mara's fierce determination to find the truth, as well as her confronting her fears about the ocean (a legacy handed down through the generations) was beautifully handled.
This was a fantastic story, and I totally loved it.
Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins Canada and HarperCollins Canada Audio for these ARCs in exchange for my review.
November 8, 2025
amazing read. similar to BlackCake but this one is about The Spanish and Cubans.
you are still left with so much mystery at the end in a good way.
this book could be a movie !
you are still left with so much mystery at the end in a good way.
this book could be a movie !
Read
January 13, 2026Great book
January 4, 2026
The first half of the book was ahhhh...The second half was amazing. I did not want to put it down!
January 3, 2026
Heartwarming generational story.
September 3, 2025
Thank you to the publisher and the author for this advanced copy!
I loved the historical fiction, dual-timeline flow of this book, but what I didn't expect was the beautiful and clear prose on quiet grief, and how it affects not only us, but generations to come. I love a story about a strong women, and all of the women in this story were incredibly strong and brave to continue to love again, live again, try again. It was a beautiful take on immigration as well, without it getting super political. When I think that I am going through the worst and I'm not sure I can continue, I will think of Catalina and all the other women in this family, and I will hopefully remember to be like them.
I loved the historical fiction, dual-timeline flow of this book, but what I didn't expect was the beautiful and clear prose on quiet grief, and how it affects not only us, but generations to come. I love a story about a strong women, and all of the women in this story were incredibly strong and brave to continue to love again, live again, try again. It was a beautiful take on immigration as well, without it getting super political. When I think that I am going through the worst and I'm not sure I can continue, I will think of Catalina and all the other women in this family, and I will hopefully remember to be like them.
November 25, 2025
this was kinda a disappointment. first off, there were multiple timeline inconsistencies, which having been written by a journalist is surprising. in the first chapter alone, the date of birth given is 19 years off from the actual events & is never corrected. i really hated mara’s sections, i found them to be written so clinically (maybe because it was written by a journalist) & frankly very boring. also, why the fuck did she want to bang her COUSIN? direct blood relative btw. i liked catalina’s sections more, but too much was crammed in once she reached cuba. if this was all in catalina’s POV i think i would have enjoyed it more, but the dual perspectives didn’t work for me
November 9, 2025
Deeper than the Ocean is a sweeping story about family, heritage, and what home means. Told from two POVs, Catalina (past) and Mirta (present) we slowly learn the history of a family and how events that shaped the past still haunt the living today.
Atmospheric and emotional, the hardships endured by Catalina provide the heart of the story. Set in the Canary Islands, then Cuba, I learned parts of history I had not known since I am fairly ignorant when it comes to these areas of the world.
For anyone who likes multi generational stories and how the past can influence and shape the future.
4.5⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co for the ebook in exchange for an honest review
Atmospheric and emotional, the hardships endured by Catalina provide the heart of the story. Set in the Canary Islands, then Cuba, I learned parts of history I had not known since I am fairly ignorant when it comes to these areas of the world.
For anyone who likes multi generational stories and how the past can influence and shape the future.
4.5⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co for the ebook in exchange for an honest review
October 23, 2025
Deeper than the Ocean was a fantastic book. I listened to the Audiobook, and the casting of Kim Ramirez was a great choice. If you're a fan of Victoria Hislop, you'll enjoy this book!
This story follows a dual timeline of Mara, a Cuban refugee turned journalist, and her Great Grandmother (GG) Catalina. Mara's mother asks her to get a copy of her GG's birth certificate, and it leads to Mara uncovering her GG's name in the death records of a ship that sunk off the coast of Cuba - something that can't be for her family to exist.
It touches on simple lives, loves, loss, trauma, uncertainty in the place you live and the hardships to escape.
It's clear author Mirta Ojito did a lot of research, and is a brilliant writer. The historic references were on point. She pulled me right into the stories, and all the emotions out of me.
My one little (big) grievance was how Mirta described the scent of a MMC - I simply could not hold ANY affection for him after finding out he smelled of musk, sweat, ONIONS, and lavender. What a foul combination to imagine.
Many thanks to the Author, Publisher, and NetGalley for the ALC!
This story follows a dual timeline of Mara, a Cuban refugee turned journalist, and her Great Grandmother (GG) Catalina. Mara's mother asks her to get a copy of her GG's birth certificate, and it leads to Mara uncovering her GG's name in the death records of a ship that sunk off the coast of Cuba - something that can't be for her family to exist.
It touches on simple lives, loves, loss, trauma, uncertainty in the place you live and the hardships to escape.
It's clear author Mirta Ojito did a lot of research, and is a brilliant writer. The historic references were on point. She pulled me right into the stories, and all the emotions out of me.
My one little (big) grievance was how Mirta described the scent of a MMC - I simply could not hold ANY affection for him after finding out he smelled of musk, sweat, ONIONS, and lavender. What a foul combination to imagine.
Many thanks to the Author, Publisher, and NetGalley for the ALC!
December 14, 2025
This novel reminds me that we are all searching. History doesn't change, despite our seeking. What changes is our perspective.
Dual timelines and pov drive this poignant family drama. Ojito's imagery makes each page-turning setting a moving painting. Much like moving through an artist's very personal gallery.
I was especially grabbed by her descriptions of flying over, driving past, and walking through Havana. Beauty lives beside destruction, vividly adding to the narrator's experience.
"I wanted all my ghosts back," thinks main character Mara, and at 50+ myself, I admittedly understand this sentiment, the drive behind the story.
Dual timelines and pov drive this poignant family drama. Ojito's imagery makes each page-turning setting a moving painting. Much like moving through an artist's very personal gallery.
I was especially grabbed by her descriptions of flying over, driving past, and walking through Havana. Beauty lives beside destruction, vividly adding to the narrator's experience.
"I wanted all my ghosts back," thinks main character Mara, and at 50+ myself, I admittedly understand this sentiment, the drive behind the story.
February 11, 2026
This book is absolutely beautiful! I love genealogy and history and this book scratched all the itches. Add in complex characters (many based lovingly on the writers own family), some great surprises dropped on the reader, and descriptions of places (Cuba & The Canary Islands) in a range of time periods…wow. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was also excellent & just added to the perfection of this book. I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a long time.
November 10, 2025
Incredibly interesting multi-generational story based on fact . I loved the Spanish language base & the settings in Spain & Cuba! This is Ojito's first fictional book & I hope she writes more. She already is a Pulitzer winning journalist.
December 15, 2025
My god the trauma 😭 — loved how the story weaved history and trauma and all the ways it shapes future generations not just in the ways we think of but also inherently in our DNA even when we don’t know the full story.
3.5 rounded up to 4 ⭐️
3.5 rounded up to 4 ⭐️
January 16, 2026
This was beautifully written and quite moving. I was really captivated by the language the author used. I could only ever hope to write a sentence as descriptive and powerful as some of the lines in this book. I don’t remember the exact phrasing, but an example of a sentence that sparkled at me was “Tears ran down her face like pearls from a broken necklace.” Ugh, stunning!
Stories like this make me want to look into my own family history (and also write a book). Maybe one day!
4.2 ⭐️
Stories like this make me want to look into my own family history (and also write a book). Maybe one day!
4.2 ⭐️
Want to read
January 19, 2026Heard a review of this book on NPR on January 18th, 2026.
February 10, 2026
Really enjoyed the dual timelines.
December 9, 2025
A vividly imagined and deeply researched love story told with passion and authority. Mirta Ojito uses her journalist's unquenchable thirst for telling details to bring to life several generations of men, women and children caught up in the whirlwinds of turmoil and change. Even the oxen have names and histories. Ojito knows this territory like a mapmaker, and is an excellent guide to the mysteries of Spain and the Canary Islands, the tragedy of Cuba, and the eternal optimism of Miami. I highly recommend "Deeper Than the Ocean" to anyone seeking antidote to the suspicion and despair of current times.
December 14, 2025
I couldn’t put this book down towards the end. Very good read! Had some slow bits but overall a well written book.
October 8, 2025
4.5
On a writing assignment t to the Canary Islands, Mara's mother asks her to find her grandmother's birth certificate. This task leads into a greater mystery, when she finds her grandmother's name listed as a shipwreck victim before her mother was born. Mara's search takes her back to Cuba and unexpected answers.Taking place in Canary Islands, Cuba & Spain, this is multi- generational story of love, family & generational trauma.
On a writing assignment t to the Canary Islands, Mara's mother asks her to find her grandmother's birth certificate. This task leads into a greater mystery, when she finds her grandmother's name listed as a shipwreck victim before her mother was born. Mara's search takes her back to Cuba and unexpected answers.Taking place in Canary Islands, Cuba & Spain, this is multi- generational story of love, family & generational trauma.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews