Tilt

Annie is 9 months pregnant with her first child and in somewhat of a rush to prepare. Specifically, she needs to buy a crib and makes a trip to IKEA. Suddenly, a severe earthquake strikes and Annie has to dig herself out of the rubble, losing her phone and purse in the process. She desperately wants to find her husband Dom, who works in a cafe, and joins the crowd of displaced people.

As Annie slowly makes her way across the city on foot, she carries on a conversation with her child while reflecting on life events: her mother has passed away, her relationship with Dom is fragile, and both of them have been unsuccessful in their chosen career paths: Annie as a playwright and Dom as an actor. Her ability to find Dom is threatened by show more damaged infrastructure, crowd behavior, and aftershocks.

This slim novel was loaded with suspense and I couldn’t put it down. The ending wasn’t quite what I expected, but on reflection strikes me as absolutely perfect. show less

I loved this novel for its brevity and for the startling appearance of The Big One, the impending Cascadia earthquake. And also for the Portland couple, Annie and Dom, a failed playwright and a failed actor, a week or so away from becoming first-time parents. The chapters alternate between Annie's internal discussions and lookbacks with Bean, the baby inside her, on her marital journey; and her horror at the ravages of the earthquake and encounters with others who survived, and with those who didn't. Commencing with an ill-fated quest to pile on more credit card debt for an overpriced crib at Ikea, and ending in Bean's arrival, this is a touching and slyly humorous commentary on both ordinary and extraordinary disasters.

Tilt by Emma Pattee is a highly recommended literary survival story that takes place over the course of one day.

Annie, 35, is pregnant, 37 weeks along, and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a major earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. She is rescued from the debris by Taylor, a salesperson she had just lost her temper with, and they make their way outside the store. She sets out without her purse or phone amid the confusion and chaos to walk to her husband Dom's workplace. While walking she talks to her unborn baby, nicknamed "Bean" and reflects on her past, meeting her husband, conversations with her mother. All this while she makes her way through devastating destruction in an increasingly dangerous city.

Tilt is an impressive, show more well-written debut novel that covers the hopefulness, disappointments, and struggles found in self sacrifice, marriage, and impending motherhood, along with the self doubts all while the character is seeking safety and survival. The narrative switches between Annie's memories of the past and her navigation through the current catastrophe. Her internal monologue to to Bean continues throughout her trek in search of safety and her husband. The setting feels realistic and the trauma of the crisis increases with each step her swollen feet take.

Annie is depicted as a realistic character amidst an unimaginable situation. While she isn't always likable and doesn't always act in a logical manner, it is clear that she is doing the best she can through the disaster. As she shares her reflection with Bean, her bond grows strong.

I do love the cover of the book. This is a very quick read and resembles another novel where a woman is traveling through a disaster. The ending was disappointing in the lack of closure but it was also somewhat expected. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2025/02/tilt.html show less

Won a finished, hardback copy of this book in a StoryGraph giveaway! While the plot was clear and present throughout the narrative and provided a solid structure for this dystopian story, I think the sentence-by-sentence and page-by-page writing is what really shined for me. I couldn’t get enough of Emma’s writing; she somehow made the mundane lovely and special, and everything sounded lyrical—even the harsh aspects of pregnancy and the reality of Annie’s world after the earthquake, particularly without the story sounding too literary or intangible. As a PNW resident who lived in Portland for several years myself, I really enjoyed the setting and reading about places that I’m familiar with. Not a life-changing novel, but one show more I’m glad I read and that makes me want to read more of the author’s work! show less

Tilt is sort of two novels in one.

One of those novels is a remarkable tale of a near-partum (I know it's not an actual medical term) woman shopping for a crib in the Portland, Oregon Ikea when a major rupture occurs along the Cascadia fault. She survives the quake only to find herself on a painful, seemingly endless trek. No cell service available; the roads are mostly impassible; major bridges are down; she doesn't know how she will meet up with her husband. She's huge; she's uncomfortable; she's lost her phone and her purse; she has an elbow injury she's afraid to examine closely. She's on a hero's journey having to change plans and routes repeatedly.

The other novel is essentially a verbal memoir of her life, particularly her show more marriage, that she's sharing with the foetus as she's on her hero's journey. She'd hoped to be a playwright; her husband hoped to be an actor. She's given up on her dream and now works doing low-level administrative work for a tech start-up. He hasn't given up on his dream, but has had little success. He works part-time at a coffeehouse so he can easily free himself up for auditions. There is no breakthrough role.

In one sense, these two "novels" belong together. Life regularly throws up major disasters without offering any break from the exhausting day-to-day ones. I had a hard time, however, connecting with the central character, who is deeply unhappy and more or less aimless. I *wanted* to know how she was surviving the horrific circumstances she finds herself in. I *didn't want* to know how she met her husband and the fact that they finally decided to marry because he didn't have insurance and needed dental work. I don't want to know how carefully her husband prepares for all the roles he's not getting. The two plot lines together undercut each other in ways I found immensely frustrating.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. show less

Good thing this was short because it was intense! As a Portlander and someone still living in the PNW the precise details about the city and research about the effects of the Big One made this feel very real and thus overhwhelming. Combine the earthquake scenario with a strained relationship, money troubles, and a baby on the way and the result was an emotionally heavy narrative that all felt too true.

It is difficult to believe that this is a debut novel! It is a tense account of one woman's day. Annie is 9 months pregnant with her first child, and goes shopping for a crib at IKEA. While there, a massive earthquake hits Portland, and her whole world comes crashing down, literally. She realizes that she needs to get out of IKEA and to her husband, a struggling actor, but without a phone or a car, and the city decimated, her travel is difficult. Along the way, she speaks to her unborn child "Bean" and recounts the struggles of her life, her marriage, her career, and her hopes for the baby.
It is a moving story, and one so descriptive. Every word is perfect.