I wanted to write about the experience of being a woman on an epic book tour. And I do say “interesting” in the most euphemistic way possible. At the same time, people say such interesting things to me on tour. This is hard thing to articulate, because I am so incredibly grateful for this life, for the job I get to do. JOHN MANDEL: About three months before the pandemic, I’d started working on a fragmentary autofiction project. As is characteristic of many of your novels, there are several thematic and plot threads at play in Sea of Tranquility: Edwin’s trip across North America, Olive on book tour, the moon colonies, the time institute. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.ĮMMA DRIES: I’m curious about the genesis of this book. In February, I spoke with Mandel over Zoom. Loyal readers of Mandel may also notice tethers between several of her previous novels-sometimes in something as significant as a reappearing character, other times as subtle as a recurring image. But no matter how remarkable the circumstance or setting, Mandel manages to keep her novels remarkably grounded, centering the incredibly human, and often relatable, struggles of her characters. Mandel’s sixth novel, Sea of Tranquility, is her most ambitious to date, spanning five hundred years, from early-twentieth-century Canada to a moon colony in 2401, the eras knitted together by her first authorial foray into time travel and metaphysics. Her 2014 best-seller, Station Eleven, was adapted into a critically acclaimed miniseries that premiered on HBO in late 2021. She has tackled everything from devastating pandemics (written before our own), Madoffesque Ponzi schemes, theater troupes, addiction, and the global shipping industry. John Mandel is known for novels that hopscotch through time and transform and transcend genre.
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