About This Book:
Set over the course of a single day, an electrifying debut novel from “a powerful new literary voice” (Vogue) following one woman’s journey across a transformed city, carrying the weight of her past and a fervent hope for the future.
Last night, you and I were safe. Last night, in another universe, your father and I stood fighting in the kitchen.
Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.
Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life.
A propulsive debut, Tilt is a primal scream of a novel about the disappointments and desires we all carry, and what each of us will do for the people we love.
My Thoughts After Reading:
I liked so much about Tilt, I don’t know where to start.
Firstly, I love books where the narrator is talking directly to you. I have always felt more connected to these stories. In Tilt’s case, our narrator – 9 month pregnant Annie – is speaking to her unborn child. It has the same, if not a more powerful, effect.
For a debut novel, Pattee was able to expertly weave a fictional tale that felt dangerously accurate. When/if this anticipated earthquake hits, the devastation her characters face will be made real. The large and small consequences of the disaster are so visceral.
Tilt will have you turning pages well into the night. You’ll be sobbing at the heartbreaking bits, laughing out loud at Annie’s inner monologue, examining your past and future choices and questioning your own humanity in face of disaster. What would you do if you were Annie? As a mother and wife, the fierce portrayal of maternal instinct coupled with the tribulations and triumphs of marriage were spot on.
I’ve seen some other reviewers who were disappointed in the abrupt ending. At 240 pages, could the book have been longer? Absolutely. However, in Pattee’s defense, I think she made this choice on purpose. The book centers on the accumulation of choices and the crushing weight of uncertainty so it makes sense to me that the ending left a lot unknown.
-Michelle
