The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

The Dreamers

by Karen Thompson Walker

‘Riveting, profoundly moving’ Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven 
‘Beautiful and devastating’ Red
‘Thought-provoking and profound’ Cosmopolitan

Imagine a world where sleep could trap you, for days, for weeks, for months…

She sleeps through sunrise. She sleeps through sunset.
And yet, in those first few hours, the doctors can find nothing else wrong. She looks like an ordinary girl sleeping ordinary sleep.

Karen Thompson Walker's second novel tells the mesmerising story of a town transformed by a mystery illness that locks people in perpetual sleep and triggers extraordinary, life-altering dreams.

One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her room and falls asleep. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital.

When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. A young couple tries to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. Two sisters turn to each other for comfort as their survivalist father prepares for disaster.

Written in luminous prose, The Dreamers is a breathtaking and beautiful novel, startling and provocative, about the possibilities contained within a human life if only we are awakened to them.


Praise for The Age of Miracles:
'What a remarkable, beautifully wrought novel' Curtis Sittenfeld
‘A beautifully observed coming-of-age tale… nimble, delicate and emotionally sophisticated’ Observer
‘Hauntingly believable… an impressive and quietly terrifying book’ Sunday Times
'A stunner from the first page… I loved this novel and can't wait to see what this remarkable writer will do next' Justin Cronin
 

Reviewed by BookeryBliss on

4 of 5 stars

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I really enjoyed Karen Thompson Walker's book, “The Age of Miracles” so of course I ran to the bookstore to pick up her next novel. 💃🏻 📖 ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Imagine living in a college town plagued by a bizarre illness where people fall into a deep, endless sleep. Those infected display unusual brain activities; higher than ever recorded! They are dreaming heightened, life-altering dreams.... but of what?⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ⁣The story is character driven, but thought provoking.

Her writing style is unique and mesmerizing and the plot is an intriguing one. How powerful are our dreams? Are they premonitions or are they memories from our past? ⁣⁣⁣This book makes me really rethink the purpose of dreams.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 January, 2019: Finished reading
  • 19 January, 2019: Reviewed