By Emily St John Mandel

Gavin leaves his small town in Florida after a glorious final performance by his high school band – the Lola Quartet. The performance is marred by the weird way his ex girlfriend Anna left…years later , back in a town he swore he would never return to, Gavin has to unravel a mystery in his (and his bandmates) disintegrating lives.

What I love about Emily St John Mandel’s style is her ability to weave the various reveals and time jumps (and boy does she jump back and forth) in a compelling way. In this book, each member of the Lola Quartet seems to have allowed the fetid swamps of Florida to invade their minds. None can make a sane set of decisions. They act like they are all in some neo-noir novel. That is my big complaint – the decision making of the characters. Having said that, I did enjoy the ending.

279 Pages

4/5