I read this book in two heady sittings over the course of a day...Mandel’s novels just have that intoxicating quality, that pins you in place, keeps you reading into the wee hours, waiting to see how it all plays out.

Mandel’s immersive yet detached style is in peak form here, and absolutely suits our detached “hero” Anton and the assorted crooks (both malicious and well-intentioned) that populate his world. Usually, I don’t like being held at a distance from the characters in a novel, since the insight into them often helps carry me through the plot. However, this book gives us just enough about everyone, but allows us to fill in the metaphorical blanks and come to our own conclusions about their motivations. No character is entirely bad or without complex shades. Broden, Elena, Aria, Sophie, and Anton are all willing to bend rules to get what they want, are willing to hurt others, be the bad guy...we don’t get to know all of them all too well, but there are subtle moments that let us know who they are. A childhood memory, a desire to be better, a desire to escape, to be free...there are many motivations that drive these characters, and I admire the guts to not make them cut-and-dry. There is no single satisfying ending for everyone, but the one we do get has some hope...for some of them.

Emily St. John Mandel vaulted onto my must-read list after Station Eleven, and this may just be my next favorite of her works so far. I love how her books feel expansive and claustrophobic all at once. I love how she writes NYC and Canada into her books. It’s so satisfying when an author with a later career “breakout” has a backlist that is so robust and satisfying. This book has elements of her debut, with its dogged investigator and protagonist in flight, and the themes of corruption and moral-greyness of The Glass Hotel. I’m really keen to pick up The Lola Quartet, then wait in minor agony for her next novel to be published.