Review: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Random House (June 26, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 0812992970
• Source: Publisher

The day appeared to be normal to Julia in the California suburb where she lived with her parents. At eleven years old, Julia is dealing with the normal turmoil a girl of her age experiences: evolving friendships, changes to her body, new demands at school, crushes on boys, etc. Then, for no apparent reason, the Earth’s rotation begins to slow. The length of a day increases incrementally starting with just a few minutes at a time but eventually, it takes days to see sun again. It doesn’t take long for Julia and the rest of the world to realize that things have forever changed.

With these changes, the atmosphere is affected, weakening. Birds mysteriously begin to die, falling from the sky.  Despite everything that is going on in the world around her, this is all secondary to to what is happening in Julia’s own home and the town around her.  Her parents relationship, once full of love and respect, begins to crumble. Julia’s best friend moves away for a short period and returns a completely different person.  Her neighbors who refuse to abide by the governments recommended 24 hour days, preferring to remain on “real time” are ostracized and in many cases targets of damage and destruction.  While Julia continues to attend school, many other families have opted to evacuate, certain that the end of times is near.

In reality, The Age of Miracles is not a dystopian or science-fiction novel, but instead a truly dramatic coming-of-age story. Readers seeking elaborate explanations of the cause of the changes to the Earth’s rotation will be disappointed, for the narrator, a young and naive tween girl, doesn’t have the knowledge or insight to explain these changes. Instead, her narration focuses on how these changes affect her, potentially bringing to light issues that have remained hidden until the stress of these changes unearth them.  Despite being the youngest of all the characters, Julia seems to be the only one who is able to maintain control. Her father, a doctor, is certain the government’s scientists will find an explanation and solution. Her mother becomes paranoid and begins stockpiling supplies.  In order to survive this catastrophe, Julia is forced to come to terms with her own identity and the ever-evolving changes in the world around her.

Despite the fact that the narrator is a adolescent girl, I would hesitate to refer to this as a young adult novel. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t recommend this to someone of Julia’s age, I would. Her story, her transformation and the shifts in the world around her, in addition to the dramatic style of Walker’s prose make this a novel that would be appreciated by readers of all types and ages.

As indicated, Walker’s prose makes this novel a truly compelling and dramatic one.  Completely engrossing, this is a novel that will demand your attention, not releasing its grasp until you turn the final page. Without a doubt this is a novel that will be talked about in coffee shops, libraries, and book clubs around the country. It truly stuns me that this is Walker’s debut novel for I felt it was certain she’d been writing, published at that, for years. Highly recommended.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to participate in this tour. Please visit the official tour page for more information on the author and to visit the other stops in the tour.