The Morningside: A Novel, Tea Obreht, author; Carlotta Brentan, narrator
This novel takes place sometime in the future. It is a world in disarray after war, class warfare, racial issues and weather have caused catastrophe. Floods have destroyed cities. Places are uninhabitable. In an effort to bring back these cities, a Restoration Project moves people to locations and provides homes for them. Everything is rationed because food is scarce as are many other necessary things. Material wealth is largely absent for most people. “Special” people still seem to live well, however.
Apparently, cities were emptied by the fighting and the malignant climate. Silvia and her mother left their home to try to start life again in one of the cities experimenting with the Restoration Project. In this new place, many of the residents do not eat meat because they are also made of flesh. Dwelling places are furnished with things found abandoned, often in need of repair. Most people follow the rules, and work to restore order and to preserve what they have and to restore some of what they have lost. Those that don’t follow the rules are often ridiculed and reported. There is always the fear of reprisals in the atmosphere.
There is very little news of actual progress, but there is an underground chain of information called “The Dispatch”. Who runs it? How long will it be allowed to exist? Does it keep people and life in check or does it create more problems with the spread of rumors? Do misperceptions cause problems? Do people rush to conclusions? Are people vindictive? Has the world moved on from the disorder of disagreement to peaceful and orderly confrontation? Is anyone trying to find out if progress is being made or if they are wasting their time?
Silvia and her mom now live in a place called Island City. Silvia’s Aunt Ena is the caretaker of a building called Morningside. They live in the same building. Aunt Ena is a teller of tall tales, and she fills Silvia’s head with stories. Silvia believes she has to protect her family, and she places amulets around the building. If they are placed incorrectly, she fears tragedy will befall them. Although Silvia’s mom forbids Ena from telling her stories, she tells her stories anyway. Some are legends, some conspiracy theories. Ena tells Silvia about a mythical creature called a Vila, and Silvia, just about 11 years old, has an active, precocious mind. She decides that one of the tenants in the building, a well-known artist, is exactly that, a Vila that possesses magical powers. She believes that the tenant turns men into her three dogs, and then back into men again, depending on whether it is day or night. Ena has enchanted her with tales of the supernatural. Aunt Ena promises to reveal the secret of this tenant to her when she is ready to hear it, but Aunt Ena dies suddenly and never does reveal anything to her. Silvia wants very much to prove that she is ready and can discover it for herself.
One day, Silvia meets a man who calls her Snoopy. He has been watching her and he asks her to do him a favor. Several years ago, he was a writer, but he crossed a line and thus, the wrong people. He was the janitor of The Morningside before Aunt Ena. When he was let go, he was unable to take anything with him and he asks Silvia to locate his mail from a dozen years ago and return it to him. When Silvia discovers he has a key to the elevator that takes the resident she believes is a Vila, up to her penthouse apartment, she wants to get the key. She makes a bargain with him and retrieves his mail in exchange for the elevator key.
Silvia has no friends in the building or the neighborhood. She is lonely and adrift. Although she is on a list to attend school, there is a long wait for an opening. The education system has broken down as well. Then one day, a new family moves in with a daughter her age. The system does not defy this young girl whose family apparently has influence, and she is admitted to school immediately. When they become friends, after a period of trial and error, these two young girls, not yet teenagers, but a bit too curious for their own good, plot to discover if the artist resident is indeed a Vila. There are moments of tragedy and mayhem. Silvia’s mom is trapped in an underwater salvage dive. Her friend suggests doing very dishonest and risky things. Suddenly there are accusations of terrible crimes. What happens to her friend? Silvia discovers who puts out The Dispatch and her mom makes horrifying accusations about a tenant? Are they well founded? Does tragedy ensue?
Years pass and Silvia relocates. The Dispatch author is revealed. Silvia’s mother becomes more open-minded and keeps fewer secrets. Does the book end hopefully or with feelings of impending doom? I am not sure I even understood the entire meaning of the novel. At times, I found it disjointed and very hard to follow. There were many quirky characters and sub-plots. The secrets and mysteries were subtly revealed but were not “aha” moments. In the end, the world seemed to revert back to a more natural state with people willing to do with less and to live within nature’s boundaries. It made me think of Henry David Thoreau who preferred living in, and with, nature as his guide.