Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel

Synopsis

DAY ONE

The Georgia Flu explodes over the surface of the earth like a neutron bomb.

News reports put the mortality rate at over 99%.

WEEK TWO

Civilization has crumbled.

YEAR TWENTY

A band of actors and musicians called the Travelling Symphony move through their territories performing concerts and Shakespeare to the settlements that have grown up there. Twenty years after the pandemic, life feels relatively safe.

But now a new danger looms, and he threatens the hopeful world every survivor has tried to rebuild.

Moving backwards and forwards in time, from the glittering years just before the collapse to the strange and altered world that exists twenty years after, Station Eleven charts the unexpected twists of fate that connect six people: famous actor Arthur Leander; Jeevan - warned about the flu just in time; Arthur's first wife Miranda; Arthur's oldest friend Clark; Kirsten, a young actress with the Travelling Symphony; and the mysterious and self-proclaimed 'prophet'.

Thrilling, unique and deeply moving, this is a beautiful novel that asks questions about art and fame and about the relationships that sustain us through anything - even the end of the world. 

Review

'We bemoaned the impersonality of the modern world, but that was a lie, it seemed to him; it had never been impersonal at all.'

What an amazing read. 

I absolutely loved this novel, it is incredibly thought-provoking, shocking, sad, yet also strangely uplifting at times. It's clever, inventive, impressive, at times chilling and haunting, at times heartwarming, and quite unlike anything I think I have ever read before really. I think I was unsure whether it would be a book for me, and I'm so glad I started reading it because I would have missed out on such a captivating, important book if I hadn't. 

The narrative is so beautifully knitted together over the course of the book. I was absorbed by this story, it deserves all the praise and plaudits it has received. 

I loved each of the characters - I think my favourites were Jeevan, Kirsten and Clark though - and I just loved how the author brought their stories together. Her evident storytelling skills and marvellous imagination bring us a frighteningly vivid and conceivable scenario for our planet's future, her understanding of the best and worst of human behaviour gives us an insight into a strange, unfamiliar version of our world, yet with common bonds of friendship and love, appreciation of music and theatre - most of all Shakespeare, cleverly woven into the story - , families and beauty, living on. 

By sharing these catastrophic times with the reader through poignant details of several individuals' lives, we can identify with them, and the momentous changes are almost given more impact through the small yet devastating details we learn (I hope that makes sense). So when I read 'Jeevan was standing by the window when the lights went out. There was a stupid moment or two when he stood near the front door, flipping the light switches. On/off, on/off', I knew that this small thing, an action we all do so many times per day, was actually huge, life-changing, now, because that was the last time, because the power was gone, full stop. 

It’s an extremely memorable book. The characters and some of the circumstances are still vividly in my mind now and it feels like they'll be there for some time to come. For me it was a page-turner yet I did actually sometimes put it down because I wanted to savour it, and to save some of it a bit longer; I didn't want the experience of reading it to be over too quickly.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the book even when I wasn't reading it though; I was either thinking about the situations one or the other of the characters were in, or thinking about how I might feel if I actually was one of them. I don't want to say much about what happens or how things change because you need to discover that as you read, but I was particularly fascinated by the airport and life there after the pandemic, as well as life on the road for the Travelling Symphony, and for Jeevan. 

It's beyond hard to comprehend the level of devastation that has occurred in the world of this story, to image a life continuing without so very many of the people and things that we treasure. 

It really made me think about our lives and our world, it made me appreciate a lot of things in the world anew - definitely a good thing - and it beautifully highlights what is most important to humanity. 

I don't think I can get anywhere near doing it justice, please do try it though and don't be put off by the 'dystopian' tag - I am not a reader of post-apocalyptic fiction, or anything particularly futuristic, but I thought this was amazingly good. If this review comes off as overly enthusiastic it's because that's how I feel about this book. 

I love the cover design too. It was really hard to know what to read next after this book because it was superlative in so many ways, everything else seemed not quite right for a while afterwards.

Just a superb, brilliant book and one of my absolute favourite reads this year so far. 

~~~~~

Reviews by other bloggers: Curiosity Killed the Bookworm | For Winter Nights | Pamreader | Sarah's Book Shelves | Lit Nerd |

Dancing to the Flute - Manisha Jolie Amin - guest review

Kalu is a street urchin, who was abandoned by his family as a small child. He endures unimaginable hardship, but by using his wits to survive and by running errands for local shop keepers, he finds just enough food to keep himself from starving. Music becomes Kalu’s salvation, and when a travelling healer discovers Kalu playing a beautiful melody through a rolled up banyan leaf, Kalu’s life takes on a very different meaning, and leads him, with his friends Malti and Bal, on a remarkable journey of self discovery.

Initially slow to start, the story attempts to mimic the theme of the ‘raag’, the mood of the music Kalu is so adept at playing, but alongside the hypnotic quality of the music,  the story of India, its people and places, and the overwhelming charm of its indigenous magic, runs like a colourful thread. Through the heat and the dust, the traditional values of small villages emerge, but even as diverse cultural changes begin to be noticeable, the spirituality of Hindu wisdom floats like a beautiful melody throughout the narrative.  

This is a very impressive debut book; the author has a real skill with words and has the unique ability to convey, in just a few phrases, an entire world. There is a gentle lyricism to the narrative which belies its strength, and even as the overwhelming theme of love and friendship is expertly explored, it is the poignant simplicity of the narrative which leaves a lasting impression. 

I really enjoyed Dancing to the Flute and have no hesitation in awarding it a 5 out of 5 star rating.

Thank you to Lindsay at the Little Reader Library for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Reviewed by Josie Barton - guest reviewer

Published by Alma Books

Many thanks to Josie for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library. Josie writes a wonderful book review blog at JaffaReadsToo.

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a copy of this novel for review. 

The Promise - Ann Weisgarber

Set in 1900, this moving novel tells of a talented young pianist, Catherine Wainwright, who leaves Dayton, Ohio having been involved in a scandalous affair and subsequently found herself ostracized by the community. In desperation she starts writing once more to the man she once corresponded with years before and who admired her back then, Oscar Williams. They agree to marry, and Catherine travels hundreds of miles to Galveston in Texas, where Oscar has now made a life for himself. He is recently widowed, with a young son named Andre, and his housekeeper Nan who promised Oscar’s late wife Bernadette that she would care for Andre.

Everything about her new environment is a shock to Catherine; meeting Oscar and getting to know him again after all the time that has passed, learning to deal with a young child who misses his mother as well as the housekeeper who has a firmly established place in the household, getting used to the remote, unfamiliar place that is now her home, coming to terms with having left everything she has known hundreds of miles away. So much change, so much upheaval for Catherine.

Then there is Nan, who has her promise to take care of Andre, but who is distrustful and suspicious of Catherine when she arrives, and wonders at the different behaviour and ways she brings with her. For Nan, Catherine’s arrival also means that the romantic feelings for Oscar that she has tried to hide will now never be reciprocated. Whilst they are all dealing with these new relationships and struggles, the biggest test of their lives comes from nature in the form of the worst storm in US history.

This is a very absorbing and well-crafted historical novel, with a firm sense of place and time that I felt totally transported to. Ann Weisgarber has created two distinctive and strong female voices as narrators in Nan and Catherine. I felt sadness for Nan because she loves Oscar too and has to witness the affection that he shares with Catherine. Nan is such a key part of the household yet she is always slightly on the outside, whereas Catherine arrives and is immediately part of Oscar and Andre’s family, which is understandably hard for Nan to stomach. Catherine looks to make a new start in Galveston with Oscar, having been in a desperate situation and seen this as her last opportunity. I admired Oscar, who had traveled south years before and made a home and life for himself, and who is a kind and trusting man. As I read, I was intrigued as to how these characters would relate to each other and what conflicts may arise. The author captures and portrays the subtleties of the relationships really well, with small moments that have huge significance. 

Music is an important theme in the novel; it is such an important means of expression for both women, and the contrast in their styles mirrors the contrast in their personalities and backgrounds, yet music also unites them and suggests that they may not be that different after all, deep down.

The novel highlights the vulnerability of humans to the devastating forces of nature, with the author combining the real storm that took place in Galveston, Texas, with her fictional tale. It is a beautifully understated, character-driven story of promises and secrets, of disgrace and suspicion, of jealousy and love, and it is a compelling and emotional read which I greatly enjoyed. I shed a tear at the end.

Published by Mantle

Thanks very much to the publisher for kindly sending a copy of this novel to read and review. 

You can find the author on twitter @AnnWeisgarber and visit her website here.