by Emily St. John Mandel
And finally, if alarming news about the Coronavirus has sent you, like me, rushing back into the arms of Emily St John Mandel’s brilliant, beautiful post-pandemic novel Station Eleven , then you will be delighted to hear that she has a new book out in March 2020: The Glass Hotel. Also, coincidentally, set partly in a hotel – this one a luxury glass and cedar monstrosity on Vancouver Island – The Glass Hotel is, in Mandel’s words : “a ghost story with a Ponzi scheme in it”, reportedly inspired by the case of Bernie Madoff. Though not a dystopian novel like Station Eleven , the shipping executive Miranda and her boss Leon make an appearance in The Glass Hotel , marking it as taking place within the same fictional universe.
"And finally, if alarming news about the Coronavirus has sent you, like me, rushing back into the arms of Emily St John Mandel’s brilliant, beautiful post-pandemic novel Station Eleven , then you will be delighted to hear that she has a new book out in March 2020: The Glass Hotel. Also, coincidentally, set partly in a hotel – this one a luxury glass and cedar monstrosity on Vancouver Island – The Glass Hotel is, in Mandel’s words : “a ghost story with a Ponzi scheme in it”, reportedly inspired by the case of Bernie Madoff. Though not a dystopian novel like Station Eleven , the shipping executive Miranda and her boss Leon make an appearance in The Glass Hotel , marking it as taking place within the same fictional universe."
"Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 pandemic-themed novel, Station Eleven, proved to be especially timely this year, but her newest book, about two half siblings haunted by their pasts, is just as good – if not better – than its predecessor. It’s a stunning look at how people react to disasters, both small and large, and the temptation that some have to give up when faced with tragedy. As she writes, “The problem with dropping out of the world is that the world moves on without you.”"
