Station Eleven By Emily St. John Mandel

 Station Eleven

By Emily St. John Mandel

Kirsten Raymonde is a little girl on stage when the lead actor in the production of King Lear she is acting in dies onstage. This marks the beginning of the end of civilization as she knows it. A flu is spreading like wildfire, killing most of its victims within a few hours.

Twenty years later Kirsten is part of a traveling troupe of musicians and actors making their way from settlement to settlement. At one of these settlements they encounter a man named The Prophet whose ire they draw, and who begins to threaten the troupe's existence.

Station Eleven moves back and forth through time, tracing the beginning of the flu pandemic and the twist of fate that connects the novel's characters.

I really liked this book, which unfolded elegantly by revealing slowly what the connections were between all of its various elements and characters. It had a good level of tension and a mystery at its core. The writing was wonderful. St. John Mandel had me turning the pages, totally immersed in the mystery. I'm giving it 4 enthusiastic stars.