Emily St. John Mandel Releases New Novel 'Exit Party'

Emily St. John Mandel has released her seventh novel, 'Exit Party.' The book, described by The New Yorker as an elegant crime story with sci-fi shadings, is set in the year 2031 and presents two parallel timelines commenting on contemporary politics.

Mandel's body of work, which includes 'Station Eleven' and 'Sea of Tranquility,' is noted for its sliding-door realities and a sharp sense of contingency. Her characters are often escape artists, poised to drift into being someone else. The writing itself has been characterized as having an aqueous quality, with images that ripple and repeat across her novels.

A Novel of Parallel Americas

In one timeline of 'Exit Party,' the United States has disintegrated into warring territories overrun by militias. The other half unfolds within an authoritarian surveillance state. A character named Ari, introduced just after her release from prison, handles these worlds. The novel's multiversal plot allows her to occupy opposing roles. She is drawn into an underworld of gun runners and mercenaries.

Aesthetic Orientation and Critique

Mandel's characters are consistently attuned to beauty, both in nature and art. Her sentences reflect this aesthetic. According to the source, she writes puzzle-box novels with a literary filigree rather than traditional literary fiction. The complexity and ugliness of realist fiction would, the critic suggests, perturb the single fluid note of her work.

Some readers may find the protagonists-often described as chicly urbane and ethnically diverse prodigies-to be a point of friction. The villains, alternately violent militiamen, agents of a totalitarian state, or neglectful fathers, might also draw critique. Despite these potential points of chafe, the reviewer for The New Yorker reported gulping the book down.

A Signature Style

The author's technique involves the repetition of evocative images, like a character swan-diving into water, investing them with cumulative meaning. This piling effect, combined with propulsive plots, supports a slow-burning sense of revelation across her books. Her 2014 pandemic novel 'Station Eleven' became a cultural sensation during COVID-19's first wave and was later adapted into an award-winning HBO series in 2021.

Mandel's new work continues her exploration of fluid identities and contingent realities. The novel was released yesterday.