Tilt by Emma Pattee
Fiction
2025 (Due out on March 4, 2024)
Finished on October 10, 2024
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
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 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.
Emma Pattee's slim novel is easily read in a single day. We were on our 5-week Grand Teton road trip when I picked up my ARC of Tilt, and as much as I would have liked to have read it in one fell swoop, other interests and activities begged for my attention. But even without the distractions of the beautiful scenery, hikes to stunning viewpoints, and moose encounters, I'm not sure I'd want to read this story so quickly. Pattee's prose is poetic, yet not overly so, and I found myself re-reading her beautiful passages as I held my breath in anticipation of what Annie was experiencing in Portland, Oregon.
I grew up in Central and Southern California, and while not a regular occurence, earthquakes were not completely unheard of. I remember several in which I either jumped from wherever I was sitting to run to stand in a door frame, or awoke from a deep sleep, wondering why my husband was tossing and turning so violently. There was even one instance in which I thought somebody was trying to break into our house. The front door was loudly rattling and it wasn't until I saw the light fixture swaying in the dining room (and my young daughter screaming, "Make it stop!" as she ran down the stairs from her bedroom) that I realized it was an earthquake and not an intruder.
And yet, until my husband and I moved to the Oregon Coast, we didn't give earthquakes much thought. Like any natural disaster, you could only do so much ahead of time. We moved from San Diego to Nebraska and became very familiar with tornadoes and severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. But in Oregon, we were quickly informed of THE BIG ONE! We live on the Cascadia subduction zone, which stretches from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino California, and will eventually wreak havoc on communities up and down the faultline, most likely with a magnitude 9.0 or greater.
Like Annie and Dom, my husband and I have attended seminars and meetings on how to prepare for such a catastrophic earthquake. We have a "Go Bag" ready for the event in one of our cars. (Why don't we have one in both?!) We have stored gallons upon gallons of drinking water in our house and garage. We have not just two but three power stations (to recharge phones and other electronics, which will most likely not be of any use since the cell towers will be down), a gasoline generator (which is great until we run out of fuel), cash (vendors won't be able to process credit or ATM cards), and a couple of LifeStraws for water purification. There's still a lot we should/need to do, but it does get overwhelming. And, we live in a forest, surrounded by HUGE trees. Oh, and we're on the coast. We'll be lucky to survive the 100 foot tidal wave or falling trees.
This is all to say that Tilt scared the crap out of me. Annie lost her purse in IKEA during the earthquake. She lost her phone.
Every couple of minutes, I check my pockets for my phone. I can't help it. It's like a phantom limblWithout a phone, I'm like an animal without legs. You have to understand about people my age is that we got phones before we had sex, we got phones before we got credit cards, before we started therapy, before we started drinking beer and cofffee and two-for-one margaritas at the shitty bar down the street. I learned to drive by following the glowing blue arrow wherever it took me.How comforting it would be right now to trace my finger along a line of blue dots. To get an ETA. Something to press on, a screen to light up. To feel that I am connected to someone, somewhere, not just a lone body miles from home, jerking forward step by step under the sun.
Even if she had a "Go Bag" with water and food in her car, she wouldn't be able to retrieve it from the crushed vehicle. Annie encounters impassable roads and bridges. There are two bridges between us and the two closest towns. Those will be gone. We'll be stranded for weeks, if not months, before help arrives. Or I may be in town shopping and have to walk home to my family, just as Annie attempts to do, hoping to reunite with her husband.
The last known megathrust earthquake in the northwest was in January, 1700, just over 300 years ago. Geological evidence indicates that such great earthquakes have occurred at least seven times in the last 3,500 years, a return interval of 400 to 600 years. (Pacific Northwest Seismic Network)
Maybe we'll get lucky and this won't happen in our lifetime. But to quote the geologist from Annie & Dom's seminar, "The worst day to prepare for an earthquake is the day the earthquake hits."
Tilt is an intense read. I felt anxious and worried for Annie (and her unborn child, "Bean") the entire time I was reading. This story will stay with me a long time. Emma Pattee has written an impressive debut novel. Recommend (but maybe not to my local book group).
Tilt sounds like an excruciating read. It actually reminds me of Prophet Song, the book I just finished; a catastrophe is unfolding and you don't know what will happen next. The author called it Third Person Personal, I think.
ReplyDeleteDeb, it was quite an intense read, especially as the day progressed for Annie. I plan to read Prophet Song, thanks to your review. I've never heard of Third Person Personal. Interesting.
DeleteWhoa that sounds like a Big One. Like you, I grew up thinking about & experiencing earthquakes. And we lived in San Marino during the 1971 earthquake that was pretty major. We were all jolted awake. I think it's good to have extra water, food & a generator on hand for all sorts of calamities. It's scary to think of when the next big earthquake will hit. Whether it's the San Andreas fault or the one in the NW. The book sounds like a page-turner.
ReplyDeleteSusan, we were in Red Bluff during the '71 Sylmar quake and I don't remember if we felt it that far north. I have a friend who lived in SF during the big one in 1989. She had just driven across the double-deck Nimitz freeway an hour or so prior to that collapse. Pretty scary! My mother-in-law was living in the valley during the Northridge quake of '94. Ugh. So many. I hope we are long gone before the next big one. The book is defintiely a page-turner!
DeleteOh, this sounds good. And, perhaps, a bit too possible. We have a emergency tupperware at my parents' house, but since moving to my own house I haven't managed to create one. Hmmm. Now you've got me thinking. I'll go make a list now and make a plan to make my own.
ReplyDeleteHelen, it is good, but also disturbing! I have several lists to work from for preparing for disasters. I try to add one or two items to our supplies every so often. You can probably find a good list online. I just found this one and remembered that we have shoes and socks and flashlights under our bed. It may be impossible to get to the closet after an earthquake and you don't want to walk around barefoot. Little tips like this are good to know. https://www.earthquakecountry.org/step3/
DeleteWow, this sounds like an intensive read to say the least! I was breathless reading your post! While in Japan, I noticed triangles posted in the corners of tall buildings, and inquired to find out that those are the “designated meeting place” in earthquakes. Then, the emergency equipment and helpers know where to help the buildings’ inhabitants. A “Go bag” sounds like something every one of us should have. And, haven’t we become dependent on our cell phones?! My goodness, when I think of navigating Germany as a young bride in my twenties with no phone, no GPS, no German language skills…I needed to have my teaching certificate validated by the Department of Defense, and everyone said, “Just get on the autobahn and take the Frankfort exit.” Sure! That’s easy! Needless to say, I am a different person now, and not so proud of it. You have certainly piqued my interest with Tilt.
ReplyDeleteMeredith, it was a very intense read, but also worthwhile. Disasters are around all of us, I suppose. When we were in Alberta, I saw several avalanche warning signs. That was a first! I do have to say that I'm glad we don't live anywhere near hurricanes or tornadoes, but forest fires are also a concern.
DeleteGood to hear from you!