‘Sea of Tranquility’ by Emily St. John Mandel

I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism.

‘Sea of Tranquility’ by Emily St. John Mandel could be seen as a sequel to ‘The Glass Hotel,’ but it works perfectly well as a standalone novel. Spanning roughly five centuries, its structure is reminiscent of ‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell.

The story begins in 1912, but moves as far ahead as the year 2401. It’s set on Earth, primarily in North America, as well as on various moon colonies. Pandemics play a role, reminding me of Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘To Paradise.’

It’s not entirely clear until the first half of the book how the chapters are connected to each other. But when it becomes clear (and it seems quite obvious in retrospect), one surprising plot twist follows the next.

And I loved how it wasn’t ‘queer in your face.’ The author casually added queer characters without making a big deal of it.

CW: suicide & mental health struggles, cancer, death & grief, reference to a school shooting