Songs for the End of the World

From the award-winning, Canada Reads-shortlisted author of Bone and Bread comes an audacious and immersive novel about the necessity of human connection, as the bonds of love, family, and duty are tested by a mysterious epidemic. This is the story of a handful of people who find themselves living through an unfolding catastrophe. Elliot is a first responder in New York, a man running from past failures and struggling to do the right thing. Emma is a pregnant singer preparing to headline a benefit concert for victims of the outbreak--all while questioning what kind of world her child is coming into. Owen is the author of a bestselling plague novel with eerie similarities to the real-life epidemic. As fact and fiction begin to blur, he must decide whether his lifelong instinct for self-preservation has been worth the cost. As the novel moves back and forth in time, we discover these characters' connections to one another and to those whose lives intersect with theirs in sometimes surprising ways. Connecting them all is the mystery of the so-called Aramis girl, a woman at the first infection site whose unknown identity and whereabouts cause a furor. Brilliantly told by an unforgettable chorus of voices, Saleema Nawaz's glittering novel is a moving meditation on what we owe to ourselves and, most importantly, to each other. It reminds us that disaster can bring out the best in people--and that coming together may be what saves us in the end.

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart