BOOKMONGER
Sprawling ambitions in ‘Small World’
Multigenerational epic unfolds after a fateful train ride
“Small” may be in its title, but at nearly
500 pages, Jonathan Evison’s latest novel is
a zealously plotted, multi generational tale of
American heartbreak and perseverance .
Over the course of his writing career, Evi-
son has developed a reputation for his fi ne
crafting of characters that we might pass on
the street, but who carry worlds of hope and
heartache . Mike Muñoz in “Lawn Boy,” Ben
Benjamin in “The Revised Fundamentals of
Caregiving,” and Harriet Chance in “This Is
Your Life, Harriet Chance” come to life in
the pages of those books. Those were big-
hearted stories about modest lives. This is
where Evison’s gift of writing lies.
Earlier in his career, Evison wrote another
novel, “West of Here,” that attempted a larger
scope. In that book, he toggled between the
end of the 19th century and the beginning of
the 21st to examine how people grapple with
the legacies created by their ancestors. There
were multiple characters, plot lines and ambi-
tions. While some reviewers called “West of
This week’s book
Here” satisfying and an electrifying epic, this
reviewer wasn’t sold on it. I regret to say that
“Small World” has more in common with
“West of Here” than it does with “Lawn Boy.”
Evison’s newest volume features a vast
array of players past and present. Some of
his 19th century characters rely on thin ste-
reotypes that might be reminders of those
old TV Westerns. Chinese immigrant Wu
Chen, who determines that selling grocer-
ies in San Francisco is a better bet than min-
ing for gold in the Shasta Cascades, is one
of them. The orphaned Irish twins, deter-
mined Nora and her mute brother Finn, are
two more.
Evison includes the plight of an orphaned
Miwok teen in California and a Black man
who escaped slavery and has found tenuous
freedom in Illinois. For the fi rst 100 pages
of this book, the introductions of these trau-
matized lives present a mashup of social
dysfunction .
Yet for all of the troubles these fi ve con-
‘Small World’ by Jonathan Evison
Dutton – 480 pp — $28
front, four will manage to have children, and
their contemporary descendants will face var-
ious challenges in their own time. These are
sprinkled throughout the story in chronolog-
ical mayhem. And frankly, the tests they face
in 2019, which is when this story wraps up,
seem almost quaint when compared to events
of the past two years — a global pandemic,
the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud
Arbery, and the U.S. Capitol insurrection, just
to name a few.
Evison plays with the conceit that gener-
ations of restless Americans have dealt with
an “incessant, unanswerable, unconquerable
call….” That’s a pretty grandiose notion that
echoes manifest destiny tropes.
But is it really true? What I will concede
is that eventually this aggravating soap opera
becomes addictive, and I was compelled to
read it through to the tear-jerking end. But
before that, when a train wreck throws
together all of the 21st century characters, I
had to suppress a smirk. The author got that
right, perhaps more than he knew.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMi-
chael, who writes this weekly column focus-
ing on the books, authors and publishers of
the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bar-
baralmcm@gmail.com.
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