Dear reader, After I finished West of Here in 2011, I convinced myself I’d never “go big” again. That is, I’d never write another epic historical novel employing dozens of points of view and a bifurcated time line bridging well over a hundred years of American history. My reasons for this were manifold: it was such a huge commitment, involving so much research, addressing so many narrative challenges, each generating so many continuity wrinkles that the mere thought of sorting them all out was enough to turn my hair gray (and likely my editor’s, too!). Thus, I subsequently wrote and published a handful of character-driven novels that were smaller in scope (and page count!), all of which were critically well received and sold well enough to support my family. It was smooth sailing for eight years. My career was healthy. My readers were happy. I wasn’t bogged down in research and excruciating narrative complications, and my hair was turning gray slower. So how did I wind up here, at Small World , my “biggest” novel yet, employing upward of fifteen limited points of view, across race, gender, class, culture, and addressing 170 years of American history, encompassing locations from Ireland to China to New York to California and virtually everywhere in between? I guess the answer is that I missed swinging for the fences. As proud as I am of all my novels, I longed for the high stakes of stretching myself beyond reasonable narrative ambition. I yearned to write a novel that could barely sustain the force of its own invention, a novel so ambitious that the author would have to be crazy to undertake such an enterprise. But here’s the catch: I wanted it be a page-turner, a grand adventure, a novel that was alive on the page, a novel possessing the requisite warmth and humor and playfulness to counteract all that lofty ambition and succeed in being a great story—America’s story. It is my greatest hope that I have succeeded and that you connect with Small World , and that these characters and themes weave their way into your world. I believe that the novel is at once timely and timeless, at once an antidote and a welcome escape from our present epoch. I hope you agree.
Jonathan evison bainbridge island, wa
Q uestions V D iscussion 1
Small World has an epic cast of characters, spanning time, place, and race. Is there a character who resonates the most with you? What about them speaks to you or your experience?
2
One of Jonathan Evison’s characters, Brianna Flowers, narrates, “America was a rigged competition. Because the playing field wasn’t level and never had been, at least not for the Flowerses, not since her forbears dared to free themselves from bondage 170 years ago.” Explain what Brianna means by this. How does this relate to the larger story of Small World?
3
When the transcontinental railroad is completed in Evison’s novel, Finn sees it as “Nothing less than the culmination of America’s greatest undertaking.” What is the railroad’s function in Evison’s book? How do the roles of trains play out over the course of the book?
4
Evison writes, “For the Bergens it seemed that the railroad, more than anything else, had delivered on the promise of America. The railroad had meant freedom and opportunity and mobility.” Is the promise of America fulfilled in this book? Why or why not? How does it interact with your experience of America?
5
Later in her life, Nora Bergen makes her name by using her wealth to feed and shelter Chicago’s displaced and homeless. When asked how she can be “so high and mighty when you align yourself with such low company,” she responds, “Because I am not aligned with them . . . I’m standing on their shoulders.” What does she mean by this? How does it relate to her character’s trajectory and the major themes in Small World?
6
Mr. Baxter says, “You have come to America to prosper, to assimilate, to become part of the great American experiment.” What does he mean by “the great American experiment”? How do the characters interact with this experiment throughout Evison’s novel?
7
Small World is a sprawling chronicle of 170 years of American nation-building from numerous points of view across place and time. How is the novel structured and organized? How did this structure impact your reading experience?
8
If you could travel back to any of the time periods and places that Jonathan Evison writes about, which would you choose and why?
9
Why do you think Evison chose to frame this portrait of America as two separate time lines bifurcated by 170 years?
10
In what ways do you think the title Small World characterizes Evison’s novel?
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