55 pages • 1 hour read
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Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.
1. What struck you most about Pattee’s decision to set this disaster story during Annie’s final weeks of pregnancy? The combination of personal and natural catastrophe creates intense dramatic tension, reminiscent of novels like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road where survival becomes deeply personal. How did this pairing of vulnerabilities affect your reading experience?
2. Annie’s transformation from anxious customer to fierce survivor happens remarkably quickly after the earthquake hits. Which moments in her character evolution felt most believable to you, and were there any shifts that seemed too dramatic or unrealistic?
3. The novel unfolds over a single day but uses extensive flashbacks to reveal Annie and Dom’s relationship history. How effective did you find this structure in building your understanding of their marriage and individual struggles?
Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.
1. Annie struggles with feeling like she’s performing the role of expectant mother rather than naturally embodying it. Have you experienced similar moments where you felt like you were acting out a social role rather than being authentic? What circumstances tend to trigger this kind of performance anxiety?
2. Dom and Annie’s marriage centers around the tension between artistic dreams and financial stability. Think about decisions you’ve made between pursuing passions and practical necessities. How do you navigate these competing priorities? What insights did Dom and Annie’s struggles offer you?
3. Throughout her journey, Annie discovers physical and emotional strength that she didn’t know she possessed. Can you recall a challenging situation that revealed capabilities you hadn’t recognized in yourself? What parallels do you see between your experience and Annie’s awakening?
4. The novel explores how economic pressures affect relationships and family planning. Annie and Dom marry primarily for health insurance and struggle with basic expenses despite dual incomes. How do these financial realities compare to pressures you’ve witnessed or experienced in your own relationships?
5. Crisis strips away Annie’s polite, accommodating persona and reveals someone capable of fierce action. Do you think catastrophic situations reveal people’s true nature, or do they create entirely new versions of individuals? What does Annie’s transformation suggest about the relationship between social conditioning and authentic self-expression?
Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.
1. Pattee grounds her fictional earthquake in real scientific research about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, making this disaster scenario scientifically plausible rather than sensationalized. What does the novel suggest about our collective preparedness for known risks, and how do you see this reflected in contemporary attitudes toward climate change or other predicted catastrophes?
2. Annie and Dom represent many millennials who face wage stagnation, student debt, and housing costs that make traditional milestones like home ownership increasingly difficult. How does their economic situation reflect broader generational challenges, and what solutions might address the systemic issues that their story illustrates?
3. The novel portrays motherhood as both socially performed and viscerally authentic, showing how cultural expectations can mask genuine maternal experience. How do contemporary pressures around parenting compare to what Annie faces, and what aspects of modern motherhood culture does Pattee critique?
Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.
1. How did Pattee’s narrative technique of having Annie address her unborn child throughout the story affect your connection to both characters? What literary purposes does this device serve beyond creating intimacy between mother and baby?
2. Walking and forward movement dominate Annie’s physical journey through devastated Portland. What does this relentless motion represent beyond simple transportation, and how does the walking motif connect to the novel’s themes about maternal determination and survival?
3. Technology failure pervades the post-earthquake landscape, from Annie’s lost phone to failed communication networks. Much like Dave Eggers explores in The Circle, Pattee examines our technological dependence, but how does the breakdown of digital infrastructure specifically serve her themes about authentic human connection versus mediated relationships?
4. Pattee alternates between present-tense crisis chapters and past-tense flashbacks labeled with time periods. How does this temporal structure create dramatic irony? What does the juxtaposition between Annie’s past anxieties and present capabilities reveal about character development under extreme circumstances?
5. The earthquake functions as both a natural disaster and a metaphor for seismic shifts in Annie’s identity and relationships. In what ways does the physical catastrophe mirror the psychological transformations occurring throughout the story?
Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.
1. Imagine that you’re designing an emergency-preparedness workshop specifically for expecting parents. What practical skills would you emphasize, and how would you address the psychological challenges of maintaining hope while preparing for disaster?
2. If you could rewrite the novel’s ending to give Annie and Dom a reunion scene, what circumstances would you create for their meeting? How might alternative outcomes change the novel’s themes about independence, survival, and relationship dynamics?
3. Imagine that Annie sits down to write a three-act play about her experiences five years after the events of Tilt. Describe the stage set for each of the three acts.
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