This book has been on my radar almost since it came out. I never got around to buying it until early this year. And then reality morphed into something a little too close to the premise of this book, so it sat on my shelf for months. Finally, thinking it couldn't be THAT bad, I picked it up and started reading it.
At any other time, I have no doubt I would have flown through this book, but in our current world, I worked through it slowly: chapter by chapter, sometimes even page by page. Though society as we know it hasn't fallen apart like in the book, it is a beautiful representation and analysis of our world, not only the modern trappings of travel, electricity, internet, phones, but the experiences we have all had through Covid-19. And on a more personal note, as an artist, the exploration of art both before and after the fall of an entire society was deeply touching.
The writing is beautiful but not overworked. The character are complex and heartbreaking. I teared up on multiple occasions. That, of course, is not the marker of a good book, but it definitely helps.
I can't recommend this book enough with the necessary caveats that it isn't for everyone. If you don't like slower moving books that are more like character studies, this is definitely not the book for you.
And to anyone looking for something similar, I have to recommend the play that made this book irresistible to me in the first place: Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn. I can't speak to how well it works when read because I was lucky enough to see it live, but check it out if you're into plays and/or looking for more explorations of art and storytelling in a post-apocalyptic world.