Another book I went into without looking up anything about the book. I was well into chapter one before I realized that this book is a companion novel to The Glass Hotel. While The Glass Hotel was much more lit fic-y, this was much more firmly in the science fiction camp, particularly the second half of the novel. Like the other of Emily St. John Mandel's books I've read, this had beautifully drawn characters that she allows to express themselves and meet the reader in fluid ways. She always focuses on trying to capture something of the character through her writing and structure rather than forcing them into traditional narrative techniques, and this is becoming more deftly done and more obvious as her career continues. I know not everyone likes her books for some of the exact reasons I do like them: they are moody and atmospheric; usually the "why" and "how" of the book are left to the end. But I love embedding myself in a character's perspective and experiences.

Each chapter of the book is set in a different year, following characters who are all connected by hearing a violin and a whoosh sound. This lasts only for a few seconds, but it is a core memory for all of the people involved. After each of the characters has their experience, we are introduced to someone who is trying to figure out why and how all of these people shared this experience, separated by hundreds of years. While there definitely is a mystery element to the book, this is far from being the main point. Any reader expecting something that is very science-y and trying to solve some great cosmic crisis is going to be disappointed. This is a book about how people cope with strangeness in their lives and what memory means to us.