The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Marirosa Mia: I was struck by the beauty and sadness of Karen Thompson Walker's THE AGE OF MIRACLES the way I'm sometimes captivated by an old photograph. How it encapsulates only a specific time and place. We can imagine what has happened before or after, but we really don't know more than what we see in that picture. THE AGE OF MIRACLES gives us our narrator, Julia, who looks back in time to when the earth's rotation began to slow. The days and nights grew longer and longer; a ball didn't travel across the field the same way it used to; birds fell out the sky in mass; and more. The world is changing - dying - and Julia is just eleven years old. 

Her narrative is sparse and clean as she watches the world around her change.  Friendships disappear while love blossoms; her parents marriage crumbles and rebuilds; neighbors are shunned and punished for their choices. And it is in this time of fear that Julia grows. It is the age of miracles, as she puts it. An age where kids shoot up in length and develop first crushes while the world around them changes forever. Though the language is sparse it is very, very, vivid; and the people and places stayed with me even after I closed the book. 

Walker's book is the perfect snapshot of this specific (speculative) moment in time - but it is just a snapshot. Which is where I think a few people might grumble, as THE AGE OF MIRACLES has no clear end. It offers no explanation for the slowing and no glimpse of the future of Earth and Julia. It is simply that moment in time - that memory of a beginning, left wide open. Despite this I very much enjoyed THE AGE OF MIRACLES.  Perhaps you might think "enjoyed" is not the right word for a book that brought me to tears, but it is. The graceful language and quiet tone wove themselves into my heart and have yet to find their way out. 

THE AGE OF MIRACLES is sad, yes. But it has a quiet beauty that lingers.