The only thing that’s small about this book is its title. Clocking in at just under 500 pages, Small World is a continent-spanning, era-hopping epic. In the present day, a group of strangers find themselves bound by fate on a train hurtling up the west coast, while in the 19th century their pioneering ancestors – immigrants, Native Americans and former slaves – struggle for survival. Despite juggling a large cast, Evison handles the multiple narratives with aplomb, creating an engrossing page-turner that also raises important questions about the American dream and what it means to be American.
Small World by Jonathan Evison, (List Price: $28.00, Dutton, 9780593184127, January 2022)
Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi