Small World

November 8, 2021
Evison’s ambitious if overlong latest (after Legends of the North Cascades) tells the stories of a train’s passengers and their ancestors after a disastrous crash. In 2019, veteran conductor Walter Bergen embarks from Portland, Ore., to Seattle, his final journey on the Amtrak payroll. Estranged from his family for decades, Bergen is a simple train-loving man who adores his wife Annie, and is also, as shown in one of the novel’s many descriptive passages set in the mid-19th century, a descendant of Chicago Irish twin orphans. Malik, a passenger and a young basketball star heading toward a prized invitational, is a descendent of an enslaved person. After the train crashes, Malik pleads with Walter to help his injured mother. There’s also Jenny, a corporate consultant and descendent of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs; and Laila, a Native American, who is fleeing an abusive husband. While some of the historical details and the characters’ relationships to one another feel a bit scattered, Evison’s depiction of the characters’ family histories builds significance as contemporary racial inequalities and class disparities are brought into relief against those of the 1850s. “America was a rigged competition,” one character remarks, firmly setting the tone and cadence of Evison’s expansive saga. It’s baggy, but still thick with insights. Agent: Mollie Glick, Creative Artists Agency.

Starred review from March 1, 2022

Evison (All About Lulu) pieces together a vivid mosaic of the imperfect American dream. Incorporating four sets of ancestors and their descendants, who will literally collide as passengers on a train in 2019, the narrative is constantly in motion, a restlessness also embodied in many of Evison's supremely well-crafted characters. The ancestors' tales begin in the mid-1800s: young Irish immigrant twins are cruelly separated by the orphanage that took them in after their mother died; a slave escapes and finds the love of his life, though not the freedom he deserves; a Chinese immigrant finds both his fortune and true love, but only after acts of violence for which he cannot forgive himself; and a young member of the displaced Miwok nation runs from the memory of her parents' murder, finding a new life with a wonderful husband, until this happiness is threatened as well. The 21st-century story lines track the descendants striving for their version of the American Dream, pushing back against racism, sexism, and income inequality, 170 years after their ancestors fought these same exhausting battles. Narrator William DeMeritt magnificently portrays the multitude of characters while maintaining perfect pacing throughout 16 hours of constant temporal and point-of-view shifts. VERDICT This absolutely enthralling audiobook production is a testament both to DeMeritt's skill and to Evison's storytelling brilliance.--Beth Farrell

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.