Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. Mandel
I enjoyed the only other book of St. Mandel’s that I have read. The Glass Hotel was presented as a mystery thriller with science fiction elements; it struck me, however, as being a mainstream literary novel that looked at the moral choices people make in their lives and the delusions and deceits that we sell to ourselves and others. Sea of Tranquility is part of a trilogy with Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, and seems much more driven by its sci fi conventions. There’s an obvious comparison with Cloud Atlas because of St. Mandel’s use of different chronological narratives set in our world’s past and future. It’s also worth pointing out that I don’t think you need to have read the previous books to enjoy and follow the action in this novel. Brendan, who loves his sci fi and chose this for our book group, rightly points out that characters reappear in this book from the earlier stories and there are references to events from those books. However, St. Mandel always provides a concise explanation of who people are and what has happened in the past. Perhaps reading both previous books might provide greater resonances but I felt equipped enough to pick up on the connections between the different time period milieus here.
The comparison with Cloud Atlas is pertinent because of the way that the links between the four main narrative strands (the early 20th century, the current period, the 23rd century and the 25th century) gradually emerge, and allow the reader not only to make these connections but also respond to the emotional dilemmas thrown up by them. The main idea that St. Mandel explores is based on two tropes of the sci fi genre: the world we humans experience is a construct (think The Matrix); and in the future time travel will be possible. She handles these fascinating ideas in an imaginative and original manner - I won’t go into how, exactly, as this would be a spoiler. However, fair to say that St. Mandel evokes drama and tension from that age old ethical question: how far can future time travellers impact on the past?
The four sections have distinct and enticing stories that are clearly influenced by the covid epidemic. The early 20th century sections feature Edwin St. Andrew, an eighteen year old younger son of an English aristocratic family who is exiled to the colonies, Canada, because of some ill-judged, radical comments at a dinner party. His itinerant existence is eventually impacted by the First World War and the Spanish Flu. However, it is a strange experience he has in a Canadian forest that the reader anticipates will connect him to the future narratives. The second strand in the late 20th, early 21st century refers back to The Glass Hotel and features characters involved with a Ponzi scheme from that novel. When the book then moves forward to the 23rd century as we follow Olive Llewellyn, a writer, on a book tour, we begin to put the pieces together. There’s a strange disorientating experience and a strange man, the same man, who turns up in all three sections. There’s also the sense that the main protagonists from each section, Edwin, Mirelle and Olive seem isolated, to have lost their bearings somewhat, and are tinged with sadness.
When we move forward to the Moon colony in the 25th century, we move to the heart of the book. Here we meet Gaspery Roberts, languishing in an undemanding hotel job, and overshadowed by his brilliant sister, Zoey, who is involved in top secret research at the Time Institute. Gaspery will become our guide during the second half of the book and it is his actions that drive and reconcile all the different narratives. It was good to read a contemporary novel that knew how to end things appropriately.
Although I have stressed that this book is a proper science fiction novel, like the best books in that genre it wanders off along rewarding routes. Through the character of Olive there is some playful satire of the book promotion scene; and when we learn that humankind has migrated to spaces other than the Earth, St. Mandel shows what this might mean for the way humans feel about themselves. Ultimately, though, this is a book written in the shadow of the pandemic and so tackles the big questions – what gives life purpose and meaning, and what do we owe to one another?
As is the way with this sort of narrative structure, I was at first a little put out by this book. The individual stories seemed engaging and intriguing, but were aborted too soon. Of course, though, patience is all, and St. Mandel skilfully gathered all the strands together in this splendid novel. Recommended.