In climate journalist and fiction writer Emma Pattee's nuanced debut novel, Tilt, an expectant mother must make a harrowing and illuminating trek across her hometown of Portland, Ore., which has been distorted into a disaster zone by a catastrophic earthquake.
At nine months, Annie is tired of being pregnant. She's reaching her breaking point in IKEA, of all places, while doing some last-minute shopping for a crib. But before she can snap, something else does. Next thing she knows, she's on the ground under a pile of shelves, and the world around her has changed irrevocably. When Annie emerges from IKEA, she finds her familiar city has been transformed into an anarchic landscape. Now, she must traverse the city to find her husband, as she confronts loss and grief; unexpected and even desperate hope; and her own disappointments and anxieties along the way.
Tilt may sound like a nightmare for expectant mothers; yet Pattee's surprisingly tender portrait of motherhood is enough to buoy even the most fearful reader. What's more, even faced with some serious doom and gloom, Annie manages to be funny, her dry humor at once acceptable and wrenching in its attempts to push her through turmoil. With Annie at its helm, this all-in-one-day survival story manages to be thrilling and thoughtful, distressing and joyful.
As Annie's journey is facilitated and interrupted by other fiercely determined mothers and even a few bloodthirsty teenagers, readers can't help but think that for all its horror, this post-quake world may not be that different from the chaotic landscapes women often must find not just the will but the determination to survive. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor