Severance

A Novel

"Narrator Nancy Wu delivers an outstanding performance of this cheeky satirical novel...Listeners will be entertained by the world building; cast of amusing, eccentric characters; and bizarre charm of the aloof heroine." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner

Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she’s had her fill of uncertainty. She’s content just to carry on: She goes to work, troubleshoots the teen-targeted Gemstone Bible, watches movies in a Greenpoint basement with her boyfriend.

So Candace barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies cease operations. The subways screech to a halt. Her bosses enlist her as part of a dwindling skeleton crew with a big end-date payoff. Soon entirely alone, still unfevered, she photographs the eerie, abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost.

Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?

A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines, and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Ling Ma’s Severance is a moving family story, a quirky coming-of-adulthood tale, and a hilarious, deadpan satire. Most important, it’s a heartfelt tribute to the connections that drive us to do more than survive.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Narrator Nancy Wu delivers an outstanding performance of this cheeky satirical novel...Wu's narration perfectly fits the story and Candace's sarcastic personality. Listeners will be entertained by the world building; cast of amusing, eccentric characters; and bizarre charm of the aloof heroine." -AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

A surprising novel, excellent narration

I throughly enjoyed the story, at times it shocked me with the changes in tone, odd descriptors that contributed to a general feeling of uneasiness throughly the book (which works well for a novel about the disintegration of society due to a virus). Nancy Wu’s narration fit well with the tone of the story, and I really felt that she was Candace. No spoilers, but the ending was particularly good. Not predictable, but it felt like an ending that made sense and fit with the characters personalities and the general plot of the novel. It didn’t feel inevitable, it felt like it belonged.

One of the best

This is a beautifully crafted and haunting end-of-the-world tale that weaves the disparate yet entangled realities of life in urban USA and factory-city China together into a captivating and satirical critique of contemporary society. It takes a bit to get used to the Millennial-like, detached tone of the narrator before you realize that it is perfect for the story. The book has left me thinking for days. Ling Ma is an excellent writer and I look forward to her next book.

engaging and thought provoking

Something about listening to this while walking around a big city during my lunch break really made me re-evaluate my life choices...

Unfulfilled

Despite the painstaking detail included in describing the most mundane personal tasks, the characters are shallow and mostly unrelatable in their cliche demons. The lead character drew neither my sympathy nor dislike throughout the weak and predictable plot. I kept waiting for drama but found instead the story was robotic and mundane, like the narrator and the characters. The scenes moved at a consistent pace without excitement. The last chapter, not even an ending, is in retrospect as expected.

Nice atmosphere

She creates an interesting atmosphere, but some of the flashbacks take to long. The ending is a little too Colorin Colorado for me. Wished for more =(