In THE WORLD TO COME, Jim Shepard traverses both borders and centuries. Seamlessly inhabiting a multitude of disparate men and women, he gives voice to visionaries, pioneers and secret misfits, from 19th-century explorers departing on one of the Arctic’s most nightmarish expeditions to 20th-century American military wives maintaining hope at home. Shepard’s characters confront everything from the emotional pitfalls of everyday life to colossal catastrophes, battling natural forces, the hazards of new technology, and their own implacable shortcomings.

Bursting with wicked humor and driven by an incomparable understanding of what it means to be human, THE WORLD TO COME is the work of a true virtuoso.