Station Eleven, by Emily St John Mandel (Picador 2014)

Neil's picture
Neil

I came late to this magnificent novel, just as the TV adaptation was screening, and I found myself watching it and reading it simultaneously. I think this was probably a mistake, as they are quite different in detail, but not in mood and intent. It's set 20 years after a pandemic has devastated society, killing 99.9% of the population, and follows a group of survivors struggling to get by in an unrecognisable world. The most powerful sections are the flashbacks to the days and years after the pandemic, when it's really driven home just what the characters have gone through to survive. This is an immensely powerful work, a brilliant piece or writing, and hauntingly prescient given our current situation.