Karen Thompson Walker is a beautiful writer who wove a complex story that incorporates a wide range of topics, both practical and ethical, about the impact a epidemic type illness would have on the people in a community exposed to it. Her handling of the various issues was spot on. The story is a narrative of a small college town in Southern California where a new and strange illness strikes a freshman dorm of a college. Initially the plot follows the path of possible spread of the unknown pathogen and then branches out to individual story lines of those directly and indirectly affected by the illness. In many ways this is an interesting look at how we might deal with a sudden infectious disease that could be contained if those powers in charge of public health actually used strong authority to reduce spread of disease. How far are we willing to go with restrictions? Who do we save if resources are limited? What would be the hazards and hardships that each character would face unique to their situation or common to all?
The other fascinating aspect of this book is involving the aspect of dreams. What do our dreams mean? How unique are they? Is the meaning the same for everyone? Do dreams reflect the current time, the past, the future or something else entirely? The variety of dreams and depth of impact of the dreams to an individual was most interesting to me. I give this book 4 stars - my main critique is that some of the story lines didn’t feel completed. I felt like I was left wanting to know more about how a character felt about decisions made or what another was doing next.
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
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